338 PLAGIOSTOMATA. 



Uses. They are not much brought to market in Ireland, and when sold are 

 usually imperfect. Some are salted and sent to Germany, while large ones are 

 often disposed of as bait for lobster or crab pots, for which they are well adapted. 

 Parnell observes that in the spring months the Edinburgh market has a daily 

 supply, and so great is the demand that no less than a dozen cartloads a week are 

 disposed of. Some are cooked fresh, others salted, while others allow them to 

 hang in the open air for weeks until they have acquired a green putrescent 

 appearance, and in this state they are considered a luxury. 



As food. This fish is held in different countries and districts in various degrees 

 of estimation, and appears to be coming more and more in use in our markets to 

 meet the increased demand for fish. Couch in 1862 recorded in Cornwall that 

 those of full size were purchased for the crab and lobster pots, and Mr. Dunn 

 observes (1884) that only a few years since at Mevagissey, it was customary 

 for the fishermen to secure large skates alongside their boats by ropes, and when 

 fishing was over to cut them adrift, being of no money value. We are told by 

 Willughby of one which weighed 200 lb., and sufficed at St. John's College, 

 Cambridge, for the dinner of 120 persons. In some parts of the Mediterranean 

 these fishes are considered to be a delicacy, and off Schleswig-Holstein they 

 were said to be salted for the German market. Their value as food depends on 

 the cook and the resources at his disposal ; while the young, termed maids, are 

 excellent either fresh or salted. Mr. Rowell, at Newcastle, observes (Land and 

 Water, July 16th, 1881) that they used to sell at Id a share of about 1 lb., but 

 now the price is 4<d to bd a lb. The pectoral fins, says Parnell, when cut into a 

 peculiar form, are sold in Edinburgh under the name of crimped skate, which is 

 esteemed a delicate morsel. 



Diseases. It is much affected by the fish leech, Hinido muricata. 

 Habitat. Found around the coasts of western Europe, and all round the 

 British Isles, in France it is common, extending to the shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean. In Orkneys and Shetlands abundant (W. Baikie, Zool. 1853, p. 3845). 

 Occasional off Banff (Edward) : Aberdeen (Sim) : common at St. Andrew's 

 (Mcintosh) : also off Berwickshire (Johnson) : Yorkshire abundant (Yorkshire 

 Vertebrata) : also off Norfolk (Lowe) : Kent (Yarrell) : Sussex and along the 

 south coast : and very common off Devonshire, although not so much so as on 

 the east coast of England (Parfitt) : Cornwall common : Swansea (Dillwyn). 



Ireland. All round the coast, but less commonly (in the north at least) than 

 R. maculata and B. clavata (Thompson). In March, 1849, one, weighing 2241b., 

 7 ft. 3 in. long from nose to tail, and 5 ft. 8 in. wide, taken as follows : ''A small 

 skate got meshed, and was swallowed with a piece of the trammel of the net by 

 the large one, and being thus entangled in the netting, it was easily secured by 

 the fishermen." One in Dublin University Museum measured upwards of 7 feet 

 in length, in its stomach was a large hake. 



The dimensions of these fish are often great. Buckland received one from 

 Suffolk, in November, 1864, which was 5i feet across and 6 feet 10 inches from 

 the end of its snout to the base of its tail, and weighed 90 lb. without the 

 intestines. One was taken off Peveril Point, in Swanage Bay, December 21st, 

 1883, which measured 4 feet 10 inches across and 6 feet 2 inches from its snout 

 to the root of its tail, and weighed 1191b. (Land and Water, December 29, 1883). 

 Mr. E. Scott was present off North Harris when two skate were captured by 

 means of deep sea lines, one was 7 feet by 5| feet and weighed 165 lb. ; the other 

 7 feet by 6 and weighed 175 lb. (Field, January 1, 1882). A stuffed female in 

 the National collection is 6^ feet long and 5| across. In the Precurseur d' Anvers, 

 July, 1837, one is alluded to from the Faroes, weighing 423 lb. 6 oz. (Mag. Nat. 

 Hist. 1837 (2) i, p. 435). The specimen figured is a young male, but a little 

 reduced in size in the figure. 



& 



2. Raia macrorhynchus, Plate CLXVII. 



Raia macrorhynchus, Raf. Ind. ittiol. Sicil. p. 47, no. 358; Gunther, Catal.viii, 

 p. 468 ; Moreau, Poiss. de la France, i, p. 405, f. 71 ; Gigliolh Cat. Pesc. Ital. p. 51. 



