FISH NOTES. 151 



"The sweetest hours that e'er I spend, 

 Are spent amang the" Jishes, "0." 



The present specimen measured two feet one inch in length, the tail 

 making up one foot, and one foot two inches in breadth. Round one eye 

 was a crescent of twelve strong spines, and round the other one of eleven. 

 At the distance of one and five-eighths of an inch behind the eye, was 

 a triangle of spines in seven rows, five spines in three rows, and three 

 in the others. The first spine of the rows on either side of the middle 

 row began opposite the second of the middle. Nearly in the same line 

 with the outermost rows of the triangle, but a little behind them, were 

 two rows of spines, small at first, but increasing in size towards and along 

 the tail, running along the back and tail to the dorsal fins, at the tip 

 of the tail. Between the rows was a deep depression, and outside each 

 was another irregular row, running also to the tip of the tail. On the 

 lower edges of the tail were rows of closely-set small spines, overlapped 

 by a thin membrane, that increased in breadth as it reached the end of 

 the tail. On the snout were also some spines. The upper surface when 

 taken alive from the boat, was a light greenish grey. On either side of 

 the triangular space of spines, at the distance of one and five-eighths of 

 an inch, was a round white spot variegated with black. The under side 

 was white. It was caught by hook, in fifty fathoms of water,' on stony 

 bottom. When taken into the boat, it curled itself into a circular shape. 

 Its stomach was empty. This description is somewhat different from that 

 given in Yarrell's "British Fishes," vol. ii, page 576. 



Shagreen Ray, (Raia fullonica.) — This, another stranger in the Frith, 

 made its appearance on the boards, on February 6th. Its total length 

 was two feet eight and a half inches, the tail measuring one foot five 

 inches, and its breadth was one foot two and a half inches. The distance 

 from the tip of the snout to the eye, was four inches and an eighth; 

 and the breadth between the. eyes was an inch and a quarter. On the 

 snout were a few spines; round the eyes were crescents of nine or ten 

 spines. A little behind the eyes, on the centre of the back, was a row 

 of four spines; and at the distance of four inches behind it began two rows 

 of spines, that ran along, increasing in size, to the dorsal fins on the tip 

 of the tail. Along the lower edges of the tail ran two rows of small 

 closely-set spines, partly covered by a thin membrane. The skin was very 

 rough round the snout, and along the outer edges of the fins: the under-side 

 was white. The mouth was three inches wide, and placed four and a half 

 inches from the tip of the snout. It was taken by hook in about thirty 

 fathoms of water. When thrown on the pier from the boat, it threw up 

 its tail and snout almost perpendicularly, and brought up its fins in the 

 same way, so that it formed itself into something like a basin. On the 



