422 COLONEL MONTAGU ON NEW AND RAPvE 



each side the ridge of the tail, and project out- 

 wards, giving it somewhat the appearance of the 

 snout of a Sawfish : these spines are much hooked 

 backwards, and extremely sharp. As to the row 

 of smaller spines on each side, they are indeed 

 small, and scarcely definable as a single row, be- 

 ing intermixed with innumerable minute, •ones 

 little inferior in size. In fact, the whole tail is 

 covered with minute spines, but along the margin, 

 they rather increase in size, especially at the base ; 

 and very little difference was perceived between 

 the sexes. Most, if not all other Rays, that have 

 spines on the tail, are furnished with one, three, 

 or five rows, but never with two or four. 



The Shagreen Ray described by Pennant, is 

 undoubtedly a female, or he would have noticed 

 the reclined hooked spines on the wings. 



A male that was three feet long, including the 

 tail, which was seventeen inches, and the breadth 

 twenty-four inches, had nine or ten spines above 

 the eye, but in the middle of the brow there was 

 a vacancy : on the snout, which is long, and much 

 resembling that of the Sharp- nosed Ray, R, oxy- 

 rinchus, there were several tubercular spines, but 

 scarcely definable, in two rows : behind the head, 

 were seven or eight spines on the dorsal ridge, ex- 

 tending as far back as to be in a line with the 

 branchiae : on the wings of the male, were the 

 usual four series of hooked spines, very sharp- 

 pointed, each series consisting of two rows : the 



