RAIA.] PISCES (CARTILAG.) PLAGIOSTOMI. 519 



the pectorals, the anterior margins of which meet at an obtuse angle : 

 mouth small; teeth small, arranged in oblique rows, appearing granu- 

 lated on the surface: eyes moderate: skin entirely smooth above and 

 below, " excepting a few small tubercles along the mesial line of the back 

 and tail, as well as on the upper and posterior part of the pectoral fins * : " 

 tail varying in length, less than, equal to, or very much exceeding, half 

 the entire length ; slender, tapering at the extremity to a fine point, 

 without any trace of fins, but armed, at about the first third of its length, 

 with a very strong, sharp, serrated spine, the serratures directed back- 

 wards: pectorals large, rounded posteriorly and at the lateral angles: 

 ventrals small, entire. Obs. Occasionally the tail is found armed with 

 two spines, owing, it is said, to the circumstance of the spine being 

 annually renewed, and the new one sometimes appearing before the old 

 one drops off. (Colours.) " Upper part of the body dirty yellow, the 

 middle of an obscure blue ; lower part white ; the tail and spine dusky." 

 PENN. According to Donovan, small specimens are more or less spotted. 

 Met with principally on the southern coasts, and rather less frequently 

 than some of the other species. It occurs at Weymouth, as well as on 

 the coast of Cornwall. The spine is capable of inflicting a severe wound, 

 but is not poisonous. Flesh said to be rank and disagreeable. The liver 

 is large, and yields a great deal of oil. 



(M.YLIOBAT1S, Dum6r.) 



(46.) Whip Ray, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. HI. p. 88. Id. (Edit. 1812.) 

 vol. in. p. 128. R. Aquila, Linn. Syst. Nat. torn. i. p. 396. ? 

 Blainv. Faun. Franc., p. 38. pi. 7.? LAigle de Mer, Cuv. Reg. 

 An. torn. n. p. 401.? 



Pennant states that in 1769, Mr. Travis, of Scarborough, had brought to 

 him by a fisherman of that town the tail of a Ray (the body having been 

 flung away) which was above three feet long, extremely slender and 

 taper, and destitute of a fin at the end. It is conjectured by the Editor of 

 the last edition of the " British Zoology," that this fish must have been the 

 R. Aquila of Linnaeus, a species which is found in the Mediterranean, and 

 which attains to a large size. It is, however, equally probable that it may 

 have belonged to the next sub-genus. The JR. Aquila cannot, therefore, 

 be considered otherwise than as a doubtful native. 



(4. CEPHALOPTERA, Dumer.) 



208. R. Giorna, Lacep. ? (Giorna Ray.) " Body 

 smooth : the margins of the fins straight ; horns of one 

 colour : spine very long, situate at the base of the tail." 

 Hiss. 



Cephaloptera Giorna, Riss. Hist. Nat. de VEur. Merid. torn. in. 



5. 163. pi. 5. Cephaloptera, Thompson in Proceed, of Zool. Soc. 

 une 9, 1835. 



A fish of this sub-genus is stated by Mr. Thompson, in a recent com- 

 munication to the Zoological Society, to have been taken about five 

 years ago on the southern coast of Ireland, and thence sent to the Royal 

 Society of Dublin, in the Museum of which public body it is at present 



* Blainville. 



