2914 



SHARKS AND RA YS 



instead of being implanted in sockets, are merely attached to the skin by an ex- 

 panded and crimped base. Moreover, the central of the three rods in the interior of 

 the saw extends to the saw's extremity, instead of stopping short; and it is not a 

 little interesting to find that from the smaller teeth at the base of the saw a complete 

 gradation can be traced to the tubercles dotting the skin. Assuming, as is most 

 probably the case, that sawfishes are nothing more than highly specialized sharks, 

 it is somewhat remarkable to find that the earliest known member of the family has 

 a somewhat skate-like form of body, and a type of dentition which could not ap- 

 parently be very readily modified into that of the existing forms. 



THE BEAKED RAYS Family RniNOBA 



With this family we come to the first of what may properly be termed the rays 

 and skates, in all of which the pectoral fins are so extended forward as to join the 

 head, and thus form, with the body, the so-called "disc"; the dorsal fins being 

 always situated on the tail, and the mouth being generally, and the gill clefts al- 

 ways, inferior. In the present family the tail is long and powerful, with two well- 



HALAVI RAY. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



developed dorsal fins, and a longitudinal fold on each side; the disc is not excessively 

 dilated, the rayed portion of the pectoral fins stopping short of the beak; and there 

 is no electric organ. Skates and rays in general are among the most hideous and 

 repulsive of all fish, some of them especially in the warmer seas attaining enor- 

 mous dimensions; while some are dangerous from the wounds inflicted by the spines 



