382 CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



on our coast which, have not yet been recorded, as the Sandy 

 Bay, the Shagreen Ray, the Long-nosed Skate, and the Sting 

 Ray, all of which have been found on the Yorkshire coast. 



Fam. MYLIOBATIDjE. Eagle Rays. 

 Myliobatis aquila, "Willughby. Eagle Ray.* 



- Myliobatis aquila, Yarr., Brit. Fish., Vol. 2, p. 591. 



,, ,, Couch, Brit. Fish., Yol. 1, p. 135, pi. 32. 



Dr. G. Johnston records the occurrence of a specimen washed 

 on shore at Spital, near the mouth of the Tweed, on Sept. 11th, 

 1839. Total length, 34^- inches; breadth, 21 inches. 



A small specimen was taken at Cullercoats, November, 1875, 

 and purchased for the Museum of the Natural History Society. 



This species is only a straggler to our coast, attaining its full 

 size in tropical seas. S. 



Order. GANOIDEI-CHONDBOSTEI. 



Fam. ACIPENSERIDjE. Sturgeons. 



Acipenser sturio, Linn. Common Sturgeon. 



Acipenser sturio, Yarr., Brit. Fish., Yol. 2, p. 475. 



,, ,, Couch, Brit. Fish., Yol. 1, p. 157, pi. 35. 



One or more specimens are almost annually taken in our bay 

 or river. A Sturgeon was caught at the mouth of the Tweed, 

 which was seven feet in length, and weighed 140 lbs. — Dr. G. 

 Johnston, 1854. A small sturgeon was taken in the Tees this 

 summer. — J. Hogg, Sept., 1868. "Having seen an account in 

 several papers of a Sturgeon caught in the Medway, seven feet 

 and a half long, supposed to be the largest ever taken in Eng- 

 land, I beg to state that one was caught last year (1867) in the 

 Tees, and exhibited in Stockton, upwards of nine and a half feet 

 long." — Naturalists' 1 Notebook, p. 158, May, 1868. H. T. Archer. 

 I am informed by Mr. J. F. Spence that three or four Sturgeons 

 are brought in annually by the trawlers at North Shields. 



Although occasionally captured on this coast, as the above 

 references shew, yet the Sturgeon must be considered a rare fish, 

 as most of the individuals sold in our fishmongers' shops are 



