FISH AND FISHERIES. 99 



CHAPTEE y. 

 Rays. 



In the family Batoidei or Rays tlie body is excessively depressed, and 

 forms with the expanded pectoral fins a somewhat circular disc, to which 

 the tail appears as an appendage of varying length. In the families. 

 Fristidce and Rhinohatidcfi the habit is that of sharks, bvit the gills are 

 placed underneath instead of at the sides. In all the anal fin is absent, 

 and the dorsals are on the tail. True rays lead a sedentary life on the 

 bottom ; they swim by the fins, and the tail serves merely to steer them. 

 The mouth is entirely at the lower surface, so that the prey is not seized 

 with the mouth, but the fish darts over it, and holds it down with its 

 body, and conveys it subsequently to its mouth. — G.S.F. 



The Rays of Australia are : — Pristis zysron, saw-fish ; Rhinobatus 

 gramdatus, shovel-nose ; R. banksii, R. thouini, R. dumerUii, Try- 

 gonorhina fasciata, the Fiddler ; Narcine tasmaniensis, Hypnos subni- 

 grum, Raia lamprieri, Thorn-back, Sting-ray or Stingaree ; R. rostrata; 

 Urogymnus asperrimits, Trygon uarnak, Trygon pastinaca, the Sting-ray 

 of Sydney fishermen ; T. tuberculata, Uroloplnis cruciatus, ZZ testaceus, 

 MyliobaiMs aquila, M. nienhofii, M. australis, Aetobatis narinari, Cera- 

 toptera alfredi. 



The Devil Fish. 



This peculiar and ugly name was applied to a stuffed specimen of 

 enormous size by G. KrefFt ; it is in the Australian Museum. It has 

 never been described, says Mr. Macleay, and now never can be, so much 

 painting, puttying, and clipping have been practised in setting up the 

 specimen. It was called the Devil Fish when it was caught in 1874, 

 probably from some resemblance to the fish of that name in the Atlantic. 

 The disc is very broad, in consequence of the great developement of 

 the pectoral fins, which, however, leave the sides of the head free ; and 

 at the sides of the mouth are a pair of detached fins. This fish was 

 caught in the vicinity of Watson's Bay, and deposited in the Sydney 

 Museum. It afibrds a fine specimen of the family Raia, measuring 

 across the wings or fins not less than 15 feet, and must have weighed 

 something more than even the famous ones recorded by Cook. 



The Sting-ray. 



Tryon pastinaca and tubercidata, our true Sting-ray, has a tapering- 

 tail, the first with and the second without a cutaneous fold, armed with 

 a long arrow-shaped spine, serrated on each side. Pectorals united in 

 front, body smooth or tubercular, teeth flattened. Mr. Hill speaks of 

 one which he calls the Black Ray, though it is hai-d to say if it be the 

 true Sting-ray or Raia lainpreiri. The latter is not known to occur in 

 New South Wales. He says that the Black Ray, "with a prominent 

 head, is not only a powerful fish when hooked with a good tackle, but 

 is of immense strength in its element ; when on the bottom its form 

 enables it to hold on, and it is like attempting to move a rock. On a 



