668 



The Living Animals of the World 



I'hubj bn ir. ■•iUi-dU-KL 



:(, F.Z.S.\ 

 HOBKED OX-EAY, 



[Milj(jid-(jn-Sm. 



Oil DEVIL-FISH. 



This species and its allies attain enornious proportions. One taken at Barbadoes required seven 

 yoke of oxen to draw it. 



late Matthias Dunn of ]\Ieva- 

 gissey seriously urged on the 

 Admiralty to dynamite them 

 in the interests of the fishing 

 industry. IMost of the sharks 

 deposit their eggs in the 

 curious oblong vessels known 

 by those who pick up the 

 disused cases on the fore- 

 shore as " jjurses " ; and 

 these attach themselves to 

 rocks and stones by long 

 tendrils that cling to every 

 sujiiiort. A number of 

 species (the Poriseagle and 

 Tope among British kinds), 

 however, bring forth their 

 young alive. 



Between the Sharks and 

 Eays there is a curious and 

 interesting link in the form 

 of the JMoNK-FiSH, or Axgel- 

 FISH, which is common on 

 all sandy shores, and a frequent 



victim of the trawl. Such local names as Mongrel-skate and Shark-ray indicate a widespread 



accej^tance of its intermediate position between the two groups under notice. Like some 



of the sharks already noticed, it produces living young, and its maximum size may be 



set down as at any rate over 7 feet. Tlie writer measured and weighed one trawled in 



Bournemouth Bay during the summer of 18'JG. Its length was nearly Ah feet, and its weight 



rather less than .50 lbs. 



Like many of the rays, this 



species feeds to a great 



extent on flat-fishes. 



In outward form the 



monk-fi.sh, though it is in .' 



reality more nearly allied to 



the sharks, brings us by an 



easy transition to the flattened 



1\AYS, with their long whip- 

 like tails and pointed snouts. 



There are a dozen, or rather 



more if we count casual 



visitors, of these skates and 



rays in British seas, the 



largest being the great Eagle- 



KAY, examples of wliieh ha\c 



been recorded of the enormous 



weight of 1,000 lbs. Jlany 



of the smaller kinds are ' ' 



studded with sharp spines, ;.„„,„ 6, ,r. *,.,»,:-a-,w, i.-.z.s.] 



curved m some species, and whip-tailed sting-bay. 



the Thornback owes to these s,i„„.,,3,, ,,., „^„„,„„t ;„ „,j,i,„ ,„.,. 



[Milfonl-0'ii-Sca. 



