222 SPINE-FINNED FISHES, OE ACANTHOPTEEYGII. 



The flesh of the Eagle Eay is not eaten, being hard, rank, and disagreeable, but the 

 liver is thought to be eatable, and a large quantity of good oil is obtained from it. It has 

 been found on our coasts, a specimen having been taken at Berwick in 1839, but it is mostly 

 found in the Mediterranean and more southern seas. It sometimes attains to a very large 

 size, weighing as much as eight hundred pounds. Its colour is dark brown above, 

 deepening towards the edges, and greyish white below. 



BEFORE quitting these fish entirely, a short notice must be given of several interesting 

 species, of which figures cannot be inserted for want of space. 



The first is the HOENED RAY ( Cephaloptera Johnii], sometimes called, from its huge 

 dimensions, horned head, dark body, and lowering aspect, the SEA DEVIL. There are, 

 however, several species which are popularly called by the latter title. 



This enormous creature is found in the Mediterranean and the warmer seas in general, 

 and has been taken in the nets together with the tunny. The flesh is not eaten except by 

 the very poor, but the supply of oil from the liver is abundant and valuable. There 

 seem to be hardly any bounds to the size which this creature will attain. M. Le Vaillant 

 saw three of these huge fish sporting round the ship in lat. 10 15' N. long. 350 W. and, 

 after some persuasion, induced the crew to attempt their capture. They secured the 

 smallest of the three, and when it was brought on board, it was found to measure twenty- 

 eight feet in width, twenty feet in length, to weigh a full ton, and to have a mouth large 

 enough to swallow a man. 



This gigantic Hay feeds almost wholly on fishes and molluscs. On account of their 

 horned heads, the Italian fishermen call the old ones cows and the young calves. A strong 

 attachment seems to exist between the male and female, for it has more than once 

 happened that when one fish has been harpooned or otherwise captured, its mate has hung 

 about the boat until it shared the same fate with its deceased partner ; and in one instance, 

 where the female had been caught in a tunny net, the male was seen wandering about the 

 net for several days, and at last was found dead in the same partition where his mate had 

 been captured. So, in common justice, the name of Sea Devil ought not to be applied 

 to so loving and faithful a creature. 



The colour of the Horned Eay is very dark black-blue above, and grey-white beneath. 

 The jaws and mouth are proportionately greater than is generally the case with these 

 fishes. The tail is long, thin, and smooth for the first quarter of its length, after which it 

 is furnished with tubercles. At its base there is a sharp, flattened spine, armed, like that of 

 the preceding species, with a double row of barbs. 



THERE are several other British Eays, among which may be briefly mentioned the 

 LONG-NOSED S.KATE (Baia Salviani), remarkable for the great length of the snout ; the 

 FLIPPER SKATE (Eaia intermedia), notable for the olive-green colour of the upper 

 surface, and the numerous white spots with which it is covered; the BORDERED EAY 

 (Raia marginata), which may be known by the dark edge to the side fins, or wings as 

 they are generally called, and the three rows of sharp spines on the tail ; and lastly, the 

 HOMELYN EAY (Eaia miraletus), which may be distinguished by the large size of the eyes 

 and temporal orifices, and the bold dark spots on the sides. 



WE now arrive at the vast order of the SPINE-FINNED FISHES, known scientifically as 

 the ACANTHOPTERYGII. In all these fishes, the skeleton is entirely bony, and part of the 

 rays of the dorsal, anal, and ventral fins are formed into spines, in some species very 

 short, and in others of extraordinary length. 



Without devoting more time or space to the purely scientific and anatomical character- 

 istics, which will be separately described at the end of the volume, we will proceed at 

 once to the various species of this vast and important order. I may here mention, that, 

 whenever possible, I have selected British fish as examples of the various genera, employ- 

 ing only those foreign species that are needful to fill up the links of the chain, or that aw 

 worthy of notice from some remarkable points in their form or their habits. 



