TION. 



Class IV. SHAGREEN RAY. 117 



Br. Zpol. iii. 87. La Raie chagrin^e. De la Ce- 5. Shagreen. 



Shaw Gen. Zool. v. part ii. p. pede Hist, des Poissons. i. 



275. 81. 



JL MET with this species at Scarborough, 

 where it is called the French Ray. 



It increases to the size of the Skate ; is fond 

 of Launces, or Sandeels, which it takes greedily 

 as a bait. 



The form is narrower than that of the com- Descrif- 

 mon kinds : the nose long and very sharp ; the 

 pupil of the eye, sapphirine ; on the nose are two 

 short rows of spines ; on the corner of the eyes 

 another row of a semicircular form ; on the tail 

 are two rows, continued a little up the back, 

 small, slender, and very sharp ; along the sides 

 of the tail is a row of minute spines, intermixed 

 with innumerable little spicule. The upper 

 part of the body is of a cinereous brown, 

 covered closely with minute shagreen-like tu- 

 bercles, resembling the skin of the dog-fish ; 

 the under side of the body is white ; from the 

 nose to the beginning of the pectoral fins is a 

 tuberculated space ; the teeth are slender, and 

 sharp as needles. 



