FISH AND FISHERIES. 99 
CHAPTER V. 
Rays. 
In the family Batoidei or Rays the body is excessively depressed, and 
forms with the expanded pectoral fins a somewhat circular ‘disc, to which 
the tail appears as an appendage of varying length. In the families 
Pristide and Rhinobatide the habit is that of sharks, but the gills are 
placed underneath instead of at the sides. In all the anal fin is absent, 
and the dorsals are on the tail. True rays lead a sedentary life on the 
bottom ; they swim by the fins, and the tail serves merely to steer them. 
The mouth is entirely at the lower surface, so that the prey is not seized 
with the mouth, but the fish darts over it, and holds it down with its 
body, and conveys it subsequently to its mouth.—G.8.F. 
The Rays of Australia are:—Pristis zysron, saw-fish ; Rhimobatus 
granulatus, shovel-nose; R. banksit, R. thowini, R. dumerilii, Try- 
gonorhina fasciata, the Fiddler; Narcine tasmaniensis, Hypnos subni~ 
grum, Raia lamprieri, Thorn-back, Sting-ray or Stingaree ; 2. rostrata > 
Urogymnus asperrimus, Trygon uarnak, Trygon pastinaca, the Sting-ray- 
of Sydney fishermen ; 7. tuberculata, Urolophus eructatus, U. testaceus,. 
Myliobatus aquila, M. nienhofii, MU. australis, Aétobatis narinari, Cera~. 
toptera alfredi. . 
The Devil Fish. 
This peculiar and ugly name was applied to a stuffed specimen of” 
enormous size by G. Krefft; it is in the Australian Museum. It has 
never been described, says Mr. Macleay, and now never can be, so much. 
painting, puttying, and clipping have been practised in setting up the 
Specimen. It was called the Devil Fish when it was caught in 1874, 
probably from some resemblance to the fish of that name in the Atlantic. 
The disc is very broad, in consequence .of the great developement of’ 
the pectoral fins, which, however, leave the sides of the head free; and 
at the sides of the mouth are a pair of detached fins. This fish was. 
caught in the vicinity of Watson’s Bay, and deposited in the Sydney 
Museum. It affords a fine specimen of the family Raia, measuring: 
across the wings or fins not less than 15 feet, and must have weighed 
something more than even the famous ones recorded by Cook, 
The Sting-ray. 
_ Tryon pastinaca and tuberculata, our true Sting-ray,'has a tapering 
tail, the first with and the second without a cutaneous fold, armed with 
a long arrow-shaped spine, serrated on each side. Pectorals united in 
front, body smooth or tubercular, teeth flattened. Mr. Hill speaks of 
one which he calls the Black Ray, though it is hard to say if it be the 
true Sting-ray or Raia lampreiri. The latter is not known to occur in 
New South Wales. He says that the Black Ray, “with a prominent 
head, is not only a powerful fish when hooked with a good tackle, but 
is of immense strength in its element; when on the bottom: its form 
enables it to hold on, and it is like attempting to move a rock. Ona 
