CHAPTER VI 



ENORMOUS RAYS, OR DEVIL-FISH 



RAYS, which are somewhat closely related to the sharks, though 

 so different to the casual observer, are characteristic of all seas, 

 but especially perhaps of the tropical waters of America, 

 where some of them attain to enormous weight. The sting- 

 rays, of which the one depicted in this volume is a variety, 

 armed with formidable serrated spikes at the base of the tail, 

 are in some cases fearsome creatures, while many of the 

 family are provided with the means of numbing their victims 

 with an electric discharge. The whip ray, however, though 

 carrying spikes above the tail, is a harmless and indeed beau- 

 tiful creature. At the same time, its frantic leaps when driven 

 wild by the suckers that adhere to its disc are sufficiently 

 alarming to those unaccustomed to its ways. 



To see a kite-shaped creature with a long and whip-like 



89 



