Lusca
{{Short description|Sea monster in Caribbean folklore}}
{{for multi|the village in Ireland|Lusk, Dublin|the village in Bistrița-Năsăud County, Romania|Năsăud}}
In Caribbean folklore, the Lusca is a name given to a mythological sea monster said to exist in the region of the blue holes nearby Andros, an island in the Bahamas.{{Cite web|last=abookofcreatures|date=2020-06-15|title=Lusca|url=https://abookofcreatures.com/2020/06/15/lusca/|access-date=2021-06-19|website=A Book of Creatures|language=en}}
Etymology
Lusca is a clipped form of Mollusca (a phylum containing octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and other cephalopods), referring to the creature's varied mollusk features, such as tentacles.
Description
It is described as a giant octopus, a giant cuttlefish, or a half shark, half octopus. The lusca is said to grow over {{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}} long, but no cases have been proven of octopus species growing up to even half these lengths.
In popular culture
The reports of a lusca monster attacking swimmers and divers was investigated by Jeremy Wade, the host of the television series River Monsters, in the episode "Terror in Paradise" (season eight, episode four). After investigating reef sharks, tiger sharks, and the giant Pacific octopus, Wade settles on a large octopus being the most likely culprit for being the lusca monster.{{Citation|title=Jeremy May Have Found The Lusca Monster Of The Blue Holes {{!}} River Monsters|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnWg7hM07Qg|language=en|access-date=2021-06-19}}
A Caribbean film festival, Lusca Fantastic Film Fest, was named after this sea monster; the festival is an annual event held in Puerto Rico. It is the first and only international fantastic film festival in the Caribbean.[https://luscafilmfest.com/about/] Lusca Film Fest Official Website
The survival video game Stranded Deep features an enemy giant squid named Lusca the Great.{{Cite web|date=2021-05-23|title=Stranded Deep: 10 Tips for Fighting Lusca the Great|url=https://www.thegamer.com/stranded-deep-lusca-great-fight-tips/|access-date=2021-06-19|website=TheGamer|language=en-US}}
In the HGTV series Renovation Island—which revolves around Bryan and Sarah Baeumler's efforts to renovate a resort in South Andros—the main restaurant at the resort is named Lusca in honor of the sea creature.
In Dave the Diver, after collecting every single animal on Marinaca, Sato will tell you to find Lusca.
The creature appears as the main antagonist of the 2010 film Sharktopus and its sequels.