CHAPTER LXIII 

 THE ORDER OF RAYS AND SKATES 



RAIAE 



The rays and skates are merely flat-bottomed, 

 side-wheel sharks, built to navigate very shallow 

 waters. From the typical shark down to the 

 broadest and flattest ray, the change of form is 

 shown by a beautifully complete series of living 

 links, several of which it has been my privilege to 

 handle and dissect fresh from their home waters. 



Of these connecting links, the most interesting 

 is the rare and wonderful Shark-Ray, 1 of the 



and thinness. But the long, fleshy body and tri- 

 angular head still proclaim very unmistakably 

 the line of relationship with the sharks. Several 

 species representing this intermediate type are 

 found in our waters, but they are not common, 

 and the real home of the genus is in the tropics and 

 subtropics. 



The Sawfish, 3 of the Florida coast, and many 

 portions of the tropics farther south, is celebrated 



SHAHK-RAY. 



Indian Ocean, a fine specimen of which was caught 

 for me in the shallow waters between Ceylon 

 and India. It is as nearly as possible half shark 

 and half Ray, and is shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. 



Between this and the typical ray stands the 

 Beaked Ray, 2 much flatter than the preceding, 

 and with the pectoral fins taking on ray-like spread 



1 Rham-pho-ba'tis an-cy-los'to-mus . 



2 Of the genus Rhi-no-ba'tis. The species some- 

 times seen on the coast of Florida is R. len-tig-i- 

 no'sus. 



among fishes because of the very long, flat beak of 

 bone which projects forward from its snout, armed 

 on both sides with formidable teeth. The length 

 of this saw is more than one-third the length of 

 the head, body and tail. It is, we may safely 

 assert, strictly a weapon of defence, not offence ; 

 for unless it is used as a shovel in searching for 

 mollusks and other food on the bottom of the sea, 

 it is useless in the search for food. 



When the Sawfish is threatened with attack, 

 however, it defends itself by quickly curving side- 

 3 Pris'tis pec-ti-na'tus. 

 34 



