222 SPINE-FINNED FISHES, OR ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



The flesh of the Eagle Ray 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 color is dark 

 brown above', deepening towards the edges, and grayish white below. 



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

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



The first is the HORNED 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 Ray 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 color of the Horned Ray is very dark black-blue above, ai.d gray-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 Rays, among which may be briefly mentioned the 

 LONG-NOSED SKATE (Raia Salviani), remarkable for the great length of the snout ; the 

 FLIPPER SKATE {Raia intermedia}, notable for the olive-green color of the upper sur- 

 face, and the numerous white spots with which it is covered ; the BORDERED RAY 

 (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 RAY (Raia 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 char- 

 acteristics, 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, 

 employing only those foreign species that are needful to fill up the links of the chain, 

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



