RAIIDvE. 343 



especially during May an;l June (Parnell) : Yorkshire at Scarborough (Pennant), 

 and is occasionally taken along the coast : it is termed French Ray at Whitby and 

 Grimsby (Yorkshire Vertebrata). Montagu observes upon having obtained 

 several on the coast of Devonshire, the largest being a male 3 feet long and 2 feet 

 across. It is rare in Cornwall (Couch). 



Ireland. One obtained in Portrush in May, 1839 : Captain Portlock remarked 

 in reference to this species, that it " seems to take the place of R. oxyrhynchus on 

 the northern coast" (Thompson). 



The specimen figured is a male 37 inches long from the Firth of Forth, and is 

 in the National collection. 



B. Short-snouted species. 

 6. Raia clavata, Plate CLXXI. 



Raja, Belon. p. 79; Rondel pp. 353, 351, Gesner, pp. 795, 797; Aldrov. 

 p. 460 ; Willughby, pp. 74, 78, t. D2, f . 2, 3 ; Ray, Synop. Pise. p. 26 ; Salvian. 

 p. 149 ; Artecli, Gen. p. 71, no. 2, Synon. p. 99, no. 2, Spec. p. LOS, no. 1 ; 

 Gronov. Mus. Ich. i, p. 140 and Zooph. no. 154. Thornbach, Pennant, Brit. Zool. 

 (Ed. 1776) iii, p. 93, pi. xii (Ed. 1812) iii, pp. 122, 124, pi. xiii, xiv; Low, 

 Orkneys, p. 169 ; Duhamel, Peches, iii, Sect, ix, pi. viii, f. 1-4, pi. ix, f. 1, 2. 



Raia clavata, Linn. Syst. i, p. 397; Bloch, t. lxxxiii {female) ; Bonnaterre, 

 Enc. Ich. p. 4, pi. iii, f. 9 ; Lacep. i, p. 128 ; Bl. Schn. p. 366 ; Donovan, Brit. 

 Fish, ii, pi. xxvi ; Turton, p. Ill ; Montagu, Wern. Mem ii, p. 416; Risso, Ich. 

 Nice, p. 11, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 146; Fleming, p. 170; Fries. Vet. Akad. 

 Handl. 1839, p. 15, pi. ii, f. 1-3, 7; Jenyns, Man. p. 516; Fries, and Eks. Skan. 

 Fisk. p. 154, t. xxxv ; Mull, and Henle, p. 135 ; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (ed. 1) ii, p. 436, 

 c. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 582 (ed. 3) ii, p. 581 ; Blainville, Fauna France, p. 528 ; Parnell, 

 Wern. Mem. vii, p. 436, t. xlii ; Templeton, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 413 ; 

 Johnston, Berwick. N. F. Club, 1838, i, p. 176 ; Gronov. ed Gray, p. 9 ; Kroyer, 

 Damn. Fiske, iii, p. 962, c. fig. ; White, Catal. p. 136 ; Kessler, Bull. Soc. Nat. 

 Mosc. 1859, ii, p. 495 ; Nilss. Skan. Fauna, Fisk. iv, p. 735 ; Thompson, N. H. 

 Ireland, iv, p. 262 ; Schlegel, Dieren Neder. p. 198, pi. xx, f. 1 ; Collett, Norges 

 Fiske, p. 214 ; Dumeril, Ich. i, p. 528 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 456 ; Moreau, 

 Poiss. de la France, i, p. 391, f. 69; Winther, Prod. Dan. Mar. p. 60; Malm, 

 Fauna, p. 606 ; Giglioli, Cat. Pesc. Ital. p. 54. 



Raia rubus, Bloch, t. lxxxiv, iii, p. 67 (male) ; Bl. Schn. p. 366 ; Neill, 

 Wern. Memoirs (male). 



Raia cuvieri, Lacep. i, p. 141, pi. vii, f. 1 ; Bl. Schn. p. 367 ; Neill, Wern. 

 Mem. i, p. 554; Plem. Brit. An. p. 172 (monstrosity). 



Raia aspera, Risso, Ich. Nice, p. 5, and Eur. Merid. iii, p. 147. 



Basyhatis clavata and ruber, Blainv. F. Fr. pp. 21, 33, t. iii, f. 1, and t. v, f . 2 ; 

 Bonap. Faun. Ital. c. fig. 



Raja punctata, Hollb. Goth. Vet. N. Handl. iv, p. 25 (yowncj). 



Raja pontica, Pall. Zool. Ross.-As. iii, p. 58, pi. viii ; Rathke, Mem. Sav. 

 etran. Ac. Sc. Petersb. 1837, iii, p. 309, pi. ix, x. 



Thornback ray, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, i, p. 99, pi. xxii. 



Disk wide, being from one-third to one-fourth wider than long, front of head 

 obtuse with the snout slightly produced at its extremity. Tail of somewhat 

 varying length, but equal to about one-half of the total length. Anterior edge of 

 the disk undulated and scarcely passes beyond a line drawn from the end of the 

 snout to its rounded angle : the hind margin of the disk convex, one-fourth 

 shorter than the front edge. Eyes rather large, their diameter being about one- 

 fourth of that of the snout, and from lj to 1| in the interorbital space. The 

 spiracles placed close behind the orbits, than which they are somewhat smaller. 

 Mouth arched, and its width equals nearly half its distance from the end of the 

 snout. Nostrils rather wide asunder, the distance between their outer borders 

 equalling- about that from the cud of the snout. Teeth large, those in young males 



