SHAGREEN RAY. 



581 



mouth large, placed beneath ; teeth strong and sharp-pointed, 

 arranged in each jaw in many rows. Skin on the upper sur- 

 face very rough, having a granulated feel when the hand is 

 passed over the pectorals ; at the base of the ventral and 

 anal fins the skin is perfectly smooth. About six large bent 

 spines, with broad bases situated on the upper part of the 

 snout ; round the inner margin of each orbit are from ten to 

 twelve of these spines, arranged in the form of a crescent ; on 

 the dorsal ridge, from the nape to the transverse cartilage, is 

 a row of six spines ; about a little more than half-way down 

 the back commence two rows of spines, which run down the 

 tail as far as the first dorsal fin ; the first ten or twelve spines 

 are very small, the rest gradually increase in size as they pro- 

 ceed ; no spines on the central ridge of the tail ; each spine 

 has its broad base more or less grooved, and its point directed 

 backwards ; on each side of the base of the tail are a number 

 of small hooked spines, placed in two or three irregular rows." 

 Montagu's figure, in the Memoirs of the Wernerian So- 

 ciety, was taken from an old male ; the figure here given is 

 that of a female, carefully reduced from Dr. Parnell's fish. 



