HOMELYN RAY. 571 



coast, has not been so well distinguished or so clearly defined 

 by some authors as its obvious characters admit and require. 

 The males, though they have, like the females, a perfectly 

 smooth skin, have also spines about the eyes, rows of small 

 hooks on the upper surface of the pectoral fins, one row of 

 spines along the dorsal ridge, with one on each side a little 

 below the commencement of the dorsal series, and when full- 

 grown, with three rows of strong spines on the tail. Thus 

 extensively armed, the male has been called rubus : but those 

 authors who quote as a synonyme the R. rubus of Bloch, 

 part iii. pi. 84, have been misled by the German ichthyolo- 

 gist, whose figure proves his fish to have been a male of the 

 Thornback, of which his plate 83 is the female. 



The Homelyn of our coast has been best made out and 

 described by Mr. Donovan, Colonel Montagu, and more 

 recently by the Rev. Mr. Jenyns, under the different names 

 here quoted. 



This species is liable to some occasional variation in the 

 manner in which the upper surface of the body is spotted ; 

 the spots are sometimes numerous, at others sparingly distri- 

 buted : I have seen it quite free from spots, and have also 

 seen it with only one eye-like spot on each side, not far re- 

 moved from the line of the back. I have mentioned that 

 the skin, independent of the accessory organs, is quite 

 smooth. These variations have given rise to the different 

 trivial names miraletus, oculata, Itevis, and maculata, which 

 have been applied to it by different authors, from the appear- 

 ance of the particular specimens examined. 



Colonel Montagu, referring to the miraletus and rubus of 

 Mr. Donovan, had no doubt that they were both identical 

 with his own maculata, since, being a common species on the 

 Devonshire coast, he had ample opportunities of seeing it 

 under its different appearances. 



Mr. Donovan has given correct figures both of the Mirror 



