NURSE HOUNI). 
1153 
on a single occasion it has been met with in Scandi- 
navian waters. In November, 1875, Malm received a 
female 622 mm. long that had been taken on a Had- 
dock-line north-west of Hallo, in the central portion 
of the island-belt of Bohusl&n. The favourite haunts 
of the Nurse Hound are the deepest algal zones or 
tebrates, but also of fishes. As mentioned above, it takes 
the bait of long-lines set for Haddock. 
From April to September ripe egg-capsules have 
been found in the uterine dilatations of the female. 
The development of the foetus in the egg after deposi- 
tion is said to take nine months. 
Fig. 336. Nurse Hound ( Scylliorhinus stellaris ), c 1 2 na ^- s i ze - From Nice, Giguoli. 
lower levels, on a stony or rocky bottom; its coloration 
too indicates that it does not usually frequent the re- 
gion of the green algae, even if the females repair 
thither, as Thompson states, to attach their egg-capsules 
to Laminaria. Its food is, no doubt, the ordinary diet 
of the small Sharks, consisting principally of inver- 
The skin of the Nurse Hound is considered to be 
one of the best polishers — it bites marble and iron — 
and after being smoothed it is employed in cover- 
ing the hilts of sabres and small-swords. Its flesh 
is eaten freely by the poor of Southern Europe. In 
Scandinavia its only value is that of rarity. 
