424 COLONEL MONTAGU ON NEW AND RARE 



nant's British Zoology, the identical figure which 

 stood in the former edition, for the skate is trans- 

 ferred to the Sharp-nosed Ray. The same figure 

 is also copied into Shaw's Zoology, for the Skate. 

 This circumstance adds to the difficulty, which 

 the inexperienced ichthyologist has to encounter 

 in distinguishing the fishes of our coasts, because 

 those works are naturally consulted. The snout 

 is the outline character by which these species 

 may be best discriminated ; the figure in que- 

 stion, therefore, cannot be supposed to represent 

 both, and in fact, by this sort of accommodation, 

 it is not a correct likeness of either , it is not suf- 

 ficiently long and slender for the Sharp- nosed Ray, 

 nor enough conic for the Skate. 



The Sharp-nosed Ray has a slender snout, the 

 margins of which, in a moderate size fish, run 

 nearly parallel to each other for three or four 

 inches at the extremity. The snout of the skate, 

 on the contrary, is truly conic. The sharp-nose 

 has its skin quite smooth. The skate is entirely 

 rough above, or granulated like a dogfish, and 

 partly so beneath. The under part of the sharp- 

 nose is white without spots. The skate on that 

 part is dusky-grey, covered with minute dusky 

 spots, having a pale speck in their middle. Both 

 species have three rows of spines on the tail when 

 arrived at maturity, but those of the skate differ 

 from most other Rays, by the points of the lateral 

 rows turning forwards. The teeth of both are 



