THE SHARKS AND RAYS 109 



The Starry Ray (i?. radiatd) is more formidably covered 

 with tubercles than any other of our species. The claspers of the 

 full-grown male are also of greater length than in any other ray. 

 This is the most decidedly northern of our rays, being com- 

 mon on the coasts of Iceland and northern Norway, but not 

 occurring with any regularity on our own, except in Scotland. 



The Homelyn (i?. maculatd) has, as a rule, its upper 

 surface dull brown, with a number of darker spots, and the 

 lower surface white. The snout projects only slightly and 

 is conical in form, sharpest in old males. The spiracles are 

 large, and there are rows of tubercles on the tail and one 

 along the back. Tubercles also, in some individuals, line the 

 edges of the " wings," and there are a few before the eyes. 



The Blonde {R. blanda) is distinguished from the last by 

 Holt and Calderwood * on the ground of its paler ground- 

 colour and more even distribution of spots, as well as by its 

 smaller and more numerous teeth, and by the border of closely 

 set tubercles along the anterior margin of the under surface. 



Torpedinidae 



The Torpedo {Torpedo nobiliand) is in some respects the 

 most interesting ray in our seas, showing in the highest 

 degree that electric power which is, in fact, shared by all the 

 foregoing. Their electric organs are in the form of either 

 discs or cups, only, as in the colour changes of the chameleon, 

 shared by many lizards, the torpedo has monopolised the 

 reputation of being able to paralyse its enemies or victims 

 with discharges from its cells.f It shows the same rounded 

 head as is seen in the monk-fish, a very unusual formation 

 in elasmobranchs, nearly all of which, both sharks and rays, 

 have a shovel-shaped snout, which is commonly associated 



* Transac. Roy. Dub. Soc, September, 1895, p. 395. 

 t See Professor Cossar Ewart on " The Electric Organ of the Skate " 

 {Proc. Roy. Soc, February 2Sth, 1892, p. 474). 



