294 PISCES. 



Trygon, Adans.(l) 



Is recognized by the tail armed v/ith a spine notched on both 

 sides, and the small, slender, and crowded teeth arranged in quin- 

 cunx order. The head, like that of the common Ray, is enveloped 

 by the pectorals, which generally form a very obtuse disk. 



The tail of some is slender and barely furnished with a fold in the 

 form of a finj of this number some have a smooth back. Such is 



R. pastinaca, L. ; Bl., 82. (The Sting Ray.) Disk, round and 

 smooth; inhabits European seas, where its spine is considered 

 venomous, on account of the dangerous nature of the wounds 

 inflicted by its serrated edges.(2) 



The back of others is more or less spinous,(3) or tubercu- 

 lated.(4) 



Some again have a wide membrane on the under surface of 

 the tail, and the species, E. Sephen., Forsk.,(5) whose back, 

 crowded with osseous tubercles, furnishes us with shagreen, is 

 of this number. The rounded body of one of them is even co- 

 vered with small spines, and the tail with tubercles like those 

 on the E. davata, E. Gesneri,(6) Cuv. Several, however, have 

 a smooth back. (7) 



In some again the slightly elongated and thick tail is termi- 

 nated by a fin. (8) 



Finally, in others the extent of the wings renders the body 

 very broad and the tail very short. (9) The 



Anacanthus, Ehrenb. 



Resembles a Trygon, but the long and slender tail has neither fin 

 nor spine. There is a species in the Red Sea whose back is fur- 



(1) Tpuyoov, or Turtur, ancient names of these fishes. 



(2) Add Tenk^e Shindraki, Russ. , I, 5. 



(3) The Raie tuberculee, Lacep., I, iv, 1, in which the engraver has omitted the 

 caudal spine; Raia Sabina, Lesueur, Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 



(4) Isakurrah-Tenkee, Kuss., I, 4. 



(5) Add Wolga-Tenkee, Russ., I, 3. 



(6) They only had the figure of the tail, Gesner, 77. 



(7) R. lymna, Forsk., p. 17. It is at least a very closely allied species which 

 is figured, but without a spine, under the name of torpille, Lacep., I, vi, 1, and 

 perhaps it is also the P. grabatus, Geoff., Eg. Poiss., Bl., XXV, i, 1. N.B. The 

 lymne, Lacep., I, iv, 2 and 3, is merely a common Trygon; .R. jama'i'censis, Cuv., 

 Sloane's Jam., pi. 246, f. 1. 



(8) The Raie croisee, Lacep., Ann. Mus., IV, Iv, 2. 



(9) P. kunsua, Cuv., Tenkee knnsu, Russel, I, 6,R. Madura, Lesueur, Ac. 

 Nat. So. Phil., or micrura, Bl., Schn., 360. 



