RAYS 63 



The body is still long and only partially flattened, the tail is 

 powerful and has a conspicuous caudal fin, the pectoral fins 

 are not very greatly expanded and are comparatively free 

 from the head and body, and the 2 large dorsal fins are placed 

 well forward on the body. Further, the Saw-fish swims, not 

 by means of the pectoral fins, which are used mainly for 

 steering, but by powerful oar-like strokes of its tail. In all 

 essential characters, however, it is a true Ray, and has clearly 

 been derived from ancestral Guitar-fishes. 



Like the Guitar-fishes, the Saw-fishes are ovo-viviparous, 

 and a number of young are born at a time. A female estimated 

 to weigh 5300 lb. caught in the West Indies was found to 

 contain several embryos. So powerful was this particular 

 fish that it towed a fair-sized boat for several miles before it 

 succumbed. In another female, 15^ feet in length, caught 

 off the coast of Ceylon, there were 23 young. The " saw " 

 remains more or less soft and flexible until after birth, and 

 this process is rendered easier for the mother by the fact that 

 the teeth at this stage scarcely project through the membrane 

 which envelops them. 



The flesh is very coarse and is of little use as food, although 

 it is eaten by some of the lower castes in India. The fins, 

 however, are commercially valuable, being exported to China 

 to be made into soup. The skin provides a handsome 

 shagreen, and, after tanning, a tough and durable leather ; 

 the liver yields a valuable oil. The " saw is a popular 

 curio, and is a familiar sight in the windows of dealers in 

 natural history specimens. Dr. Day records that on the 

 Mekran coast of India the fishermen of all religions presented 

 the saws at a small temple, where they were hung up inside 

 or piled round the outside. The priest was supposed to pray 

 for success in their " catches " and for a safe return to the 

 shore. It is also recorded that when the aboriginal inhabitants 

 of the Andaman Islands wished to make a suitable offering to 

 their superintendent they attacked and harpooned, at con- 

 siderable risk to themselves, an enormous Saw-fish, and 

 presented him with the rostrum. 



The Saw-fish can scarcely be classed among the game 

 fishes, but one of 14 feet and weighing 600 lb. was taken on 

 rod and line on the coast of Florida. 



