234: MONSTER SKATE. 



tail 6ft. lOin., across the wings 5ft. 3iu. ; its weight 

 was found to be OOlbs. If the intestines had not been 

 remcved, it would have weighed over a hundredweight. 

 With greatest difficulty I made a cast of this monster 

 fish ; the fish itself is now in the British Museum, and 

 the cast at my fish museum. I believe blue skates even 

 larger than this have been sometimes caught. 



The Long-nosed Skate, or Shagreen Eay {Eala 

 mucronata, liaia oxyrhynchus ; German: Dee Spitznasc), 

 is distinguished by the great length of the nose, which is 

 narrow and sharp. The upper part of the body is of a 

 cinerous brown, covered closely with minute shagreen- 

 like tubercles resembling the skin of the dog-fish. The 

 under side is white, and the teeth are slender and sharp 

 as needles. It grows to a considerable size, and is said 

 to feed on sand-eels and the sand-launce. It frequents 

 deep water, and is not caught in the winter. 



The Sharp-nosed Eay, has the snout sharp, slender, 

 and very much elongated. It may be recognised by 

 this, and by the waved line of the margin of the body, 

 from the nose to the centre, and by its pure white 

 colour underneath. It is the largest of the British rays, 

 and is also thicker in proportion than the others ; the 

 tail is armed with three rows of spines.. This skate is 

 known by various names in different places, such as 

 White Skate, Burton and May Skate. It has been 

 taken on many parts of the coast, and in some places is 

 by no means rare. 



The Bordered Kay (Baia marginata) is so called on 

 account of having a broad dusky border on the under 

 side, the other parts of the surface being white. The 

 skin is smooth, and the snout sharp, slender, and mode- 

 rately long : a few specimens only have been taken in 

 England. 



