NO. 1816 STORY OF THE DEVIL-FISH — GILL I7I 



length of gestation are unknown. Even the exact date of the one 

 observation that has been pubHshed has not been given, although it 

 appears to have been some time in July. It is, indeed, quite possible 

 that the appearance of the animals close to the coasts of the Southern 

 States may be for the purpose of finding a suitable place for the 

 birth of the young. By Elliott,^ it was found, in the first years of 

 his experience with them, that they appeared "only in August"; in 

 1843, "for the first time, in July," and in 1844 thev were "taken in 

 June." 



Care seems to be extended even to the place of parturition by the 

 Sting-rays, so that the young shall encounter the least danger from 

 the tide as well as from living enemies. Alcock tells that all the 

 small Sting-rays (Dasybatis zvalga) with embryos he observed "w^ere 

 found in shallow little tidal pools lying behind natural breakwaters 

 of sand," and he urges, "it seemed as if this comparatively safe sit- 

 uation had been deliberately chosen by the mother as a nursery for 

 her expected family, as, in the opinion of Professor Mcintosh, is the 

 case with the viviparous Blenny (Zoarccs) of northern seas." Anal- 

 ogous care may therefore be exercised by the Devil-fishes, the rela- 

 tions of the Sting-rays. 



A pair of these huge animals, male and female, were seen in union 

 by Mr. Elliott and described by him.* 



VII 



Whatever be the size or other characters of the Devil-fishes, so far 

 as observed, they agree among themselves and differ from most other 

 fishes* by having, normally, only a single young one at a birth. The 

 giant mothers noticed by Duhamel, Risso, Mitchill, and Lamont 



' Op. cit., p. 67. 



^ Subito, laeva — sed longiore spatio, quam, si jaculatus essem, speraverim 

 transfigere ictu — duos pisces cephalopteras aspexi, amplexu conjunctos. Ven- 

 tribus juxtapositis — capitibus erectis, et supra undam oblatis — antennis lascive 

 intersertis — coitum salacem, ut solet genus squalus, ipso contactu corporis, 

 tunc sine dubio exercuere. Ferire, ob distantiam non licitum, aut duos 

 cephalopteras, solo ictu transfixisse, gloria inopinata mihi contegisset. Cym- 

 bam appropinquantem, hastamque minantem, circumspecte evitant — et, in 

 profundo paulisper latentes, iterum, dextra emergunt, ludosque lascivos 

 repetunt. Tunc, quasi deliciis satiati, saltatione in aere, utrinque facta — aper- 

 tum mare petivere. Hoc concursu tarn raro notato — antennis albis, cum nigris 

 admixis utsi lacertis — imago foedi et immundi coitus, nudi Africani cum 

 Caucasiana, plane praefigurabatur. (Elliott, Carolina Sports, 3d edition, pp. 

 93, 94). 



*The Stingrays (Dasybatids) of some species at least have only a single 

 young. 



