DESCRIPTION 



OF THE 



GANGETIC FISHES. 



ORDER FIRST. 



FISHES HAVING A CARTILAGINOUS SPINE. 



I. Genus. — Raia or Skate. 



Fishes of the first order, which, on each side of the body 

 beneath, have five or seven breathing apertures without gill 

 covers or membranes ; which have the mouth opening from 

 below ; and which have the body very flat, and terminated on 

 the sides by a margin composed of the pectoral and ventral 

 fins. 



1st Species. — Raia fluviatilis. 

 Skates are very common in the Ganges, not only in the es- 

 tuaries, but very far removed from the sea ; for I have seen 

 them at Kanpur, more than a thousand miles above the extent 



A 



