560 THE COMMON SKATE. 



twenty years ago a fish answering to it ia every respect 

 was cast on shore during a violent storm on the westei-n 

 coast of Juthmd. 



Of the Skate family, which, according to Yarrell, num- 

 bers seventeen species in the British seas, only seven have 

 hitherto been identified in those of Scandinavia, viz. : — 



The Common Skate {Sliitt-Bocka, or smooth skate, 

 Sw. ; Flett-Rockc, or spotted skate, Norw. ; Shade, Dan. ; 

 Roja JBatis, Linn.) is common in the Bohus Skjirgard, 

 and more or less so elsewhere on the western coasts of 

 both Sweden and Norway, from the Sound to somewhat 

 beyond the Polar Circle. Witli the exception of the 

 M. radiata, its range in this direction is more extended 

 than that of the Rays. Off the Avestern coast of Jutland it 

 is also common, but has not hitherto been identified in 

 the Baltic. It is the largest of the familv iuha!)itin£: the 

 Scandinavian seas, and, as with its congeners, the female 

 is of snperior size to the male. On the Swedish coast its 

 usual length is from three to five feet, but on tliat of 

 Norway it attains to much more. Kroyer says he himself 

 has there seen individuals seven to eight feet long, which 

 he judged must have weighed two hundred pounds. In 

 the Stockholm Museum is preserved the egg-shell, or 

 " sea purse "' as it is called, of what is believed to be this 

 skate, that Avas brought up from the deeps, measuring 

 thirteen inches in lengtl\ by five and a half in breadth, 

 clearly showing that the fish by which it was deposited 

 must have been of gigantic dimensions. As a rule, it 

 lives in the deeps, liut at certain seasons approaches the 

 shore. It is very voracious, and spares nothing that 

 comes in its way. Flat-fishes and various species of 

 Gadus constitute its cliief nourishment ; but it also 

 feeds on crustaceans, particularly the larger ones. As 

 its movements are slow, it would seem rather to lie on 

 the watch for its pi-ey than to pursue it. 



