GEN. GALEtrS. COMMON TOPE. 307 



the characteristic attribute of voracity, not hesitating 

 to attack man when an opportunity offers. It is 

 said, however, to feed on the Rays in preference to 

 any other kind of food. It varies from seven to ten 

 or twelve feet in length. The flesh is very hard and 

 leathery. 



Gen. CVIII. Galecs. — In general aspect the 

 Topes, as the fishes of this genus are called, are not 

 unlike the dog-fish ( Scylliutri) and the hounds 

 (Mustelus) ; but the number and position of the 

 fins are nearly as in Zygoena ; the temporal orifices 

 are present ; the nostrils beneath the middle, and 

 the last branchial opening above the pectoral. The 

 spiracles are rather large, and there is no depression 

 above the root of the tail. 



(Sp. 223.) G. vulgaris. Common Tope, Penny 

 Dog, Miller's Dog. This is by no means a very 

 common fish in the British seas, but it is found not 

 unfrequently on the southern coasts of England and 

 Ireland, and occasionally on the coasts of Scotland. 

 Its principal residence is the Mediterranean, where 

 it is very common. The dimensions of the speci- 

 mens caught here are seldom considerable, rarely 

 exceeding four or five feet, but Bloch affirms that 

 in the Mediterranean it sometimes attains to the 

 weight of one hundred pounds. Mr. Couch has 

 observed it frequently on the Cornish coast, which 

 seems to be the locality where it is most plentiful in 

 our seas, and he states that the young, to the num- 

 ber of thirty or more, are excluded all at once from 

 the female in May and June. This fish has been 



