LONG-NOSED SKATE. 415 



of their bodies, contrasted with their long narrow tails, fre- 

 quently furnished with two and sometimes three small fins, 

 and mostly armed with one or more rows of sharp spines 

 along the whole length. The whole body is very much de- 

 pressed; the great breadth of it is produced by the expansion 

 of what are considered as the pectoral fins, the base of each 

 of which is equal to the whole length of the side of the fish. 

 The Skate may almost be considered as having no true head 

 or neck, the sides of both being included and thus protected 

 by the expanded anterior margin of each pectoral fin. The 

 nostrils, mouth, branchial and anal apertures, are on the 

 under surface ; the eyes and temporal orifices on the upper 

 surface. The texture of the skin of the body varies consi- 

 derably, and will be referred to when describing the different 

 species. From the peculiar form of the body, admirably 

 adapted to exist at the bottom of the water, the Skate may 

 with more propriety be called a Flatfish than any species of 

 the Pleuronectida. Their mode of progression is not very 

 easily described : it is, when they are not alarmed, per- 

 formed with a slight motion of the pectoral fins, something 

 between a slide and a swim. I once heard a North- country 

 fisherman call it sluddering. When a Skate makes the best 

 of its way either to gain a prize in the matter of food, or to 

 escape an enemy, great muscular exertion is evident. The 

 mode of defending itself, as described by Mr. Couch, is very 

 effectual : the point of the nose and the base of the tail are 

 bent upwards toward each other ; the upper surface of the 

 body being then concave, the tail is lashed about in all di- 

 rections over it, and the rows of sharp spines frequently 

 inflict severe wounds. 



Some sexual peculiarities require particular notice. The 

 woodcut introduced overleaf represents in the left-hand portion 

 an inside view of one-half of the mouth of an adult male; 



