THE SKATE. 
259 
this species Mr. Y. (in the 2nd edit, of his Fishes) considers British speci- 
mens which he has seen identical ; and so likewise do I consider the Irish 
examples, for I am disposed to believe that there is not sufficient evidence 
for considering that any other species has ever occurred on the British 
shores. The spiracles have not been described as notched in any indu- 
bitable British specimen of torpedo ; and even if they be so, I could not 
conceive two species, properly so called, of any animal of such large size, 
differing only from each other in the edge of the spiracles being notched 
or smooth. [Prince Bonaparte confirmed this when visiting the Dublin 
University Museum. R . Ball. ] 
The Skate, Raia Batis, Linn., 
Is taken around the coast, but less commonly (in the North at least) than 
R. maculata and R. clavata. 
The following notices of unusually large specimens of skate (species 
unknown) appeared in the newspapers : — 
“ Capture of a Large Skate. — On Thursday, the 22nd instant, one of the 
Coosheen fishing-boats caught a skate which weighed 2 cwt. (224 lbs.) ; length, 
from nose to tail, 7 feet 3 inches ; breadth 5 feet 8 inches ; depth, through the 
body, 7 inches. The liver weighed 14 lbs. This huge fish was caught in the 
following manner A small skate got meshed, and was swallowed, with a piece 
of the trammel of the net, by the large one ; and, being thus entangled in the 
netting, it was easily secured by the fishermen.” — Cork Reporter. Copied into 
Northern Whig, March 29, 1849. 
“ Extraordinary Fish. — Two skates of an extraordinary size and weight 
were taken in the river Quoile, near this town, on Tuesday night last, one of 
which, a female fish, measured five feet in length, and the tail two feet ; total 
length seven feet, and five feet two inches in breadth ; it weighed upwards of 
two cwt. The other fish, a male, measured four and a-half feet in length, tail 
one foot and three-quarters ; total length, six feet and a quarter, and breadth, 
four feet and three-quarters ; it weighed upwards of one and a half cwt. There 
were also caught at the same time several very large conger eels, one of which 
measured six feet in length, and weighed upwards of forty pounds.” — Down- 
patrick Recorder. Copied into Belfast Mercury , July 3, 1851.* 
The rays are less known in Ireland than most other fishes, in con- 
sequence of their being rarely brought to market, and when exposed for 
sale they are usually in an imperfect state. 
March 3, 1849. Two immense ova, of some species of Raia most pro- 
bably, were sent me fresh and moist from Belfast fish-market. After 
being exposed to the dry air for 48 hours, they were weighed in the fore- 
noon of the 5th, and were respectively 8^ and 9 ounces. Length 10J 
inches, breadth 4^ inches. Thickness at outer edge fths of inch. These 
ova were brought up on the long lines of the fishermen in deep water, 
about the entrance of Lame Lough ; they had never seen any so large 
before. Mr. Hyndman obtained one precisely similar at Ailsa. 
The Sharp-nosed Ray, Raia oxyrhynchus , Mont. 
Amongst the species of rays enumerated in Smith’s Waterford, is the 
“ Raia oxyrhynchus, called by Rondeletius, R. oxyrhynclia major, the 
Great Maid.” 
Sept. 5th, 1851. I saw the perfect tail and other remains of an immense 
* A skate in the Dublin University Museum measured upwards of 7 feet in 
length ; in its stomach was a large hake. — R. Ball. 
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