Holt and Calderwood — Report on the Rarer Fishes. 387 



We are able to record it, for the first time, from the coast of Iceland and from 

 Rockall, whence it seems to be one of the commonest rays. It occurs occasionally 

 during the spring and summer months at Plymouth and along the coast of 

 Cornwall, but appears to frequent deejoer water than the other skates usually 

 landed on our coasts, and probably on this account is the more seldom seen. It 

 has been recorded from the coast of Yorkshire, and from Norway, but is certainly 

 rare in the North Sea. It seems to be generally distributed along the west coast 

 of Ireland, but previous to the survey there existed no record of the capture in 

 Irish waters of any fish which could with certainty be identified with this 

 species. 



The examples recorded by Thompson,* and more recently by Mr. Patei"son,t 

 if correctly identified with R. oxyrhynchus (Montagu) were in reality R. alba (Lacip), 

 and Mr. Paterson's record of R. mucronata, a synonym of the species now under 

 consideration, is admittedly doubtful. 



The species is most easily recognised by reason of the feature to which its 

 ordinary name applies, the long nose and deeply concave anterior margins of the 

 disk. 



During the Survey, a large specimen, measuring 50 inches in length, a female, 

 was captured 30 miles off the coast of county Mayo. The trawl was let down on 

 the rapidly deepening slopes of the continental plateau in 500 fathoms and hauled 

 up in 375 fathoms. Other specimens, all immature, were taken in 25, 31—38, and 

 74-80 fathoms. The 50" sjDecimen measures 34 inches across the wings, which is 

 also the measurement from the tip of the snout to the posterior extremity of the 

 pelvic fin. Both sides of the disk and tail are covered with spinules, which point 

 in a backward direction. These spinules are least prominent in the centre of the 

 dorsum and most conspicuous on the under surface of the snout and head. The 

 interorbital space is flat, and, like the median dorsal region generally, has a worn 

 appearance. Round the inner side of the orbits, however, and especially in front 

 of these organs, the spinules are again conspicuous. There is no trace of any spine 

 on the disk. The spinules continue, without interruption, along the surface of the 

 somewhat flattened tail. About an inch and a-half behind the posterior margin of 

 the pelvic fins, on both sides of the tail, a row of conical spines make their appear- 

 ance, and continue backwards, along the extreme lateral margin, to the level of 

 the second dorsal fin. In the medium line of the tail are the degenerate remains of 

 two spines. Both are now mere flattened bases, partially buried in the skin, and 

 might be readily overlooked. 



Another large female, taken off Gregory Sound on the 8th April, 1891, 

 belonged to the same species. It measured 53 inches in total length, the width and 



* "Nat. Hist. Ireland," vol. iv. p. 259. 



t "Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea of Belfast Lough." Lond., 1881, p. 228. 



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