118 SHAGREEN RAY. 



situated at the origin of the back; and a double row of stout 

 spines, with recurved points, runs from about the origin of the 

 ventral fins along the tail to the dorsal fins; in the example 

 described, to the second dorsal. These lines of spines are sepa- 

 rate at first, and the surface rounded between them, but they 

 become closer as they proceed. In a female there was the 

 absence of the bed of spines near the borders of the pectorals; 

 but there was a superior amount of roughness at those parts, 

 and from the snout along the anterior border. In the Cuckoo 

 Ray the skin is generally smooth, and the bed of spines behind 

 the head triangular; the spines also being more sharp and 

 slender than in the Shagreen Ray. The ornamental spots so 

 conspicuous in the Cuckoo Ray are also absent. 



In a communication from the Rev. Walter Gregor, of Mac- 

 duff, on the Moray Firth, he informs me that he has only 

 seen one example of the Shagreen Ray in that neighbourhood; 

 which was caught with a line at the depth of thirty fathoms, in 

 the month of February. The total length was two feet eight 

 inches and a half, of which the tail was one foot five inches. 

 The breadth was one foot two inches and a half. When on 

 the beach it threw up its snout and tail almost perpendicularly, 

 at the same time lifting also the pectoral fins. 



