334: CHONDROPTERYGII. RAY FAMILY. 



qiiently in the Firth of Forth, as Dr. Parnell assert? 

 that two or three specimens can be obtained nearl;y 

 e^ery week in the Edinburgh market, during the 

 months of April and May. The quahties of the 

 flesh are not considered inferior to those of the 

 maiden-skate. 



Gen. CXIX. Trygox. — To the general aspect of 

 the family of the Rays, this genus adds some pecu- 

 liar characters which render it at once distinguish- 

 able. The tail is long, tapering gradually to a point, 

 and without fins ; and it is armed towards its origin 

 with a long sharp spine, sharply serrated on both 

 edges. Two other British Rays are provided with 

 an appendage of this nature, but they are so diffe- 

 rent in other particulars as to be referred to separate 

 genera. The three might be combined into a sepa- 

 rate sub-family. 



(Sp. 245.) T.pastinctcea. Sting Ray or Common 

 Trygon. This is the only sting ray found in this 

 country in any quantity, and it was known as an 

 inhabitant of our coasts to the earliest British natu- 

 ralists. At present it is of most frequent occurrence 

 on the southern coast, but it has been found as far 

 north as the Firth of Forth, where a single speci- 

 men was captured in the salmon-nets above Queens- 

 ferry in the month of August, and it was the only 

 example the fishermen had ever seen. Almost all 

 the European seas, and every part of the Atlantic, 

 afford it in some plenty, and it is a common fish in 

 the ^lediterranean. ]\Ir. Couch, with his uf?ual zeal 

 iind discriminating observation, has watched its 



