1096 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
head ■ — with the semicircular” or still more obtuse and 
depressed snout — presents an appearance which was 
compared by Rondelet to that of a toad’s head, by 
Johnston to the print of a horse’s hoof, the great fon- 
tanelle representing the impression left by the frog of 
the hoof. The eyes are set so high that their superior 
margin is almost in a plane with the forehead. Their 
longitudinal diameter in the young is about half the 
length of the snout, in old specimens less. Just behind 
the eyes lie the large spiracles, the length of which is 
about twice that of the former. The nostrils are ap- 
proximated rather closely to each other, the dermal flap 
which covers their internal parts (the nasal valvule) 
being medially attached only at its base by a narrow 
frenum. This valvule is trapezoidal in form, broad, 
and expands behind to the truncate edge that lies, with 
a shallow median sinus and fringed with papillae, close 
to the anterior margin of the mouth and outside the 
very thin true upper lip. The underlip too is thin at 
the middle, but thickened at the corners of the mouth. 
The breadth of the mouth is about 2 /' 3 of the distance 
between it and the tip of the snout. 
The body is somewhat depressed (flattened) behind 
the head, but a little further back rises again to the 
shoulder-girdle, where the depth is about equal to the 
length of the fontanelle mark on the top of the head. 
In the median line behind this point there is a low 
ridge, which passes on the tail into a dermal edge in 
front of the dorsal fin, which is rounded above or 
obliquely truncate. Behind this tin lies the spear-like 
caudal spine, with faintly convex front, carinated 
back, and numerous (40 — 50) retral barbs on the 
sides*. 
The large triangular pectoral fins have been com- 
pared to the wings of an eagle, and have given the ge- 
nus its vulgar name. The ventral tins are quadrangular,, 
with straight or somewhat convex posterior margin. 
The general features of the highly variable colo- 
ration have already been indicated. 
The Eagle-Ray, which is known from Australia (Syd- 
ney) — probably from Japan too — and from the Cape 
of Good Hope, has its principal European habitat in the 
Mediterranean and the neighbouring parts of the Atlantic. 
On the north-west coast of France it is fairly common, 
but even on the English coast it is rare. Further 
north it is still rarer. On the 16th of November, 1882, 
however, a young male 0 of this species was taken among 
small Herrings at Vettre Farm in Asker, 20 kilom. 
south of Christiania. The Herring-seine was drawn on 
a clay bottom, at a depth of 12 — 14 fathoms (Collett). 
The habits of the Eagle-Ray essentially resemble 
those of the Devil-fishes as described above. R is a 
less marked bottom-fish than the true Rays. It appears 
to fly rather than to swim, says Moreau, whether it 
is traversing mid-water or lashing the surface with one 
of its pectoral tins. An Eagle-Ray was kept in an aqua- 
rium at Arcachon, the same author states, and whenever 
it was taken out of the water, it uttered a rather loud 
bellowing noise. Its flesh is of little value and is not 
much eaten. On the other hand, it is greatly dreaded by 
the fishermen for the sting of its spine. The tail is usually 
chopped off before handling the fish. According to Mo- 
reau the Eagle-Ray is viviparous. A fisherman from Ros- 
coff told him that a female of this species had given 
birth to seven living young just after she had been 
hauled into the boat. 
Fam. TRYGONIDfE. 
The whip-like tail with or without either fins or spine. Pectoral fins extended without a break forward along 
the sides of the head and contiguous in front of the tip of the snout. 
This family has its true home in the seas and a scourge to bathers. They generally live in shallow 
rivers of the tropics, where many of its members are water, concealing their body in the sand or mud, so 
“ In a male 66 cm. long the length of the flattened snout in the median line before the fontanelle is half its breadth at the 
same point. 
6 In the specimen described by Collett, the tailless body of which measured 318 mm. in length, the true caudal spine was 82 mm. 
long, but in front of it lay a compensatory spine, still covered with skin and 11 mm. long. In a male 66 cm. long, the tail of which 
measured 40 cm., the former spine was 63 mm. long, the compensatory spine 55 mm. 
c Length of the body 853 mm., including the tail (535 mm.). Greatest breadth (between the tips of the pectoral fins) 540 mm. 
Length of the copulatory organs (pterygopodia) 78 mm. 
