216 



FISHES 



fishes. There may be a deposition of bony matter in cer- 

 tain places — for example in the jaws and the vertebral col- 

 miin. The jaw is large and strong and furnished with many 

 teeth. The mouth of most sharks is on the under side of 

 the head some little distance back of the end of the snout. 

 Consequently, a shark usually turns on its back when seizing 

 its prey The gill openings are from five to seven in number, 



on each side of the 

 neck (see the hammer- 

 headed shark, Fig. 

 151), and are simply 

 long, narrow, uncov- 

 ered slits. The larg- 

 est of all fishes is 

 the great Ijaskir.g 

 shark which attains a 

 length of forty feet. 

 Some sharks repro- 

 duce I33' eggs \\drich 

 are of consideralsle 

 size and furnished 

 with a hard chitinous 



Fig. 152. — Sting ray, commonly called 

 stingaree. 



sheD, often bearing 

 several long filaments 



which seem to serve for attachment to seaweeds and the like. 

 In general, a ray, or skate, has a broad, flat body usually 

 ending in a long, slender tail (Fig. 152). It swims close to 

 the bottom of the sea for the most part, and feeds upon 

 crabs, small fish, etc. It does not, like the shark, turn over 

 to seize its prey, l)ut swims quietly over a fish and quickty 

 settles down upon it, holding it fast with the broad body 

 and strong jaws. 



