SHARP-NOSED RAY. ">">7 



exceed the common Skate, its superior thickness rentiers it 

 heavier." 



Colonel Montagu, in the Wcrnerian Memoirs already 

 quoted, says, by way of further distinction, the snout in this 

 species is slender, the lateral margins in a moderately-sized 

 fish running nearly parallel to each other for three or four 

 inches at the extremity. The skin is smooth, with the ex- 

 ception of the spines on the upper surface, peculiar to the 

 males, as shown in the figure ; the colour a plain brown with- 

 out spots or lines, and never so dark as the Skate last de- 

 scribed, with which it is sometimes confounded. The teeth 

 of the males, according to a specimen of the mouth very 

 kindly sent to me by Mr. Couch, are longer, more pointed, 

 and sharper than those of any other species I have had an 

 opportunity of examining. The tail is armed with three rows 

 of spines. 



Mr. Couch states that the smaller-sized specimens are 

 taken throughout the year ; but those which are larger keep 

 in deep water, and are only taken in summer and autumn. 



The French are great consumers of Skate, and this species 

 is their favourite fish : their boats come to Plymouth during 

 Lent to purchase Skate, which they preserve fresh and moist 

 during the run back to their own coast by keeping them 

 covered with wet sand. 



This species is the White Skate of the Orkneys, and of 

 Scotland generally. Dr. George Johnston says it is not un- 

 common at Berwick, and attains a very large size : this gen- 

 tleman had measured one Avhich was seven feet nine inches 

 in length, and eight feet three inches in breadth. It is said 

 to have been taken on the south-east coast of Ireland. 



Two examples of this species have been obtained at Madeira 

 by the Rev. R. T. Lowe, as recorded in the Proceedings of 

 the Zoological Society for 1889, p. 92. 



