GEN. RAIA. SHAGREEN RAY. 331 



ance or yaliie ; for while the Homelyn is esteemed 

 as food, either fresh or salted, this is thought wor- 

 thy only to bait the crab-pot, or, just as frequently, 

 to be thrown aside for manure. It is of frequent 

 occurrence in moderately deep water, from spring to 

 the end of autumn. In winter, however, it is not 

 often seen, chiefly, perhaps, because at that season 

 the boats do not venture quite so far from land ; 

 but, perhaps, also, from the fish having changed its 

 quarters. It seems to be an indiscriminate feeder, 

 living on small fishes, and different kinds of Crus- 

 tacea." * It has been found in Dublin Bay, as well 

 as in other parts of the north of Ireland. 



(Sp. 242.) B. chagrinea. The Shagreen Ray. 

 Mr. Yarrell notices this fish under the name of B. 

 fullonica^ under the idea that it is the species so 

 named by Linnteus and Rondelet, a point which it 

 is almost impossible to determine with certainty. It 

 was described by Montagu in the second volume of 

 the Wernerian Memoirs, as the Shagreen Ray, a 

 name since adopted by most authors. The snout is 

 rather long and sharp, the whole surface rough with 

 minute shagreen-like tubercles, similar to the skin 

 of the Dog fish; tail with only two rows of spines, 

 there being none on the central ridge ; colour beneath 

 white. It has been taken on the Devonshire coast, 

 at ScarboR)ugh (where it is called the French Ray), 

 and on several of the Irish coasts. It appears to be 

 nowhere so plentiful as in the Firth of Forth, where, 

 as we are informed by Dr. Parnell, it is occasionally 

 * Apud Yarrell's Brit. Fishes, vol. ii. 575. 



