Note on a Shark and Ray. 305 



Its distinctive characters are thus given by Gunther and 

 Day:- 



All the fins small and spineless; two dorsal and a pair of 

 ventral fins ; skin uniformly covered with minute tubercles; 

 nostrils near the extremity of the snout ; no nictitating 

 membrane to the eye ; mouth with a deep oblique groove 

 at the angle; the upper teeth small, narrow, conical, and 

 in several rows (44 to 52 in a row) ; the lower teeth more 

 numerous, also in several rows, flat, and each tooth having 

 its front so much turned aside, that the inner margin forms 

 the cutting edge, which is not serrated ; spiracles of mod- 

 erate width. The skeleton is wholly cartilaginous. 



The colour is either very variable or changes easily under 

 different circumstances. It is usually represented as gray 

 or dusky above and lighter below ; and Calderwood states 

 that of two recent specimens which he examined, one, a 

 young individual, was of a dull, slate colour, with a number 

 of small white spots distributed irregularly over the surface 

 of the skin. The other, of larger size, was of a more bluish 

 tint and without white spots. One specimen which I saw 

 at Metis seemed of a general gray or dull brown colour 

 above, with slightly lighter bands on the sides. Another, 

 which had been some time dead, was of a rich deep brown- 

 ish colour above, with distinct zebra-like stripes of brown 

 on the sides, and creamy white below. The colours prob- 

 ably differ under different circumstances, even during life; 

 and preserved and dried skins usually fade into a uniform 

 gray hue. 



The measurements of my Little Metis specimen are as 



follows : — 



Feet. Inches. 



Total length 9 6 



Girth behind pectorals 4 5 



Nostrils behind point of snout 2 



Snout to centre of eye 4 5 



Do. to first gill opening 1 5 



Width of mouth S 



Length of series of five gill openings 7 



