CHAPTER LXIII 
THE ORDER OF RAYS AND SKATES 
RAIAE 
The rays and skates are merely flat-bottomed, 
side-wheel sharks, built to navigate very shallow 
waters. From the typical shark down to the 
broadest and flattest ray, the change of form is 
shown by a beautifully complete series of living 
links, several of which it has been my privilege to 
handle and dissect fresh from their home waters. 
Of these connecting links, the most interesting 
is the rare and wonderful Shark-Ray , 1 of the 
and thinness. But the long, fleshy body and tri- 
angular head still proclaim very unmistakably 
the line of relationship with the sharks. Several 
species representing this intermediate type are 
found in our waters, but they are not common, 
and the real home of the genus is in the tropics and 
subtropics. 
The Sawfish, of the Florida coast, and many 
portions of the tropics farther south, is celebrated 
SHARIv-RAY. 
Indian Ocean, a fine specimen of which was caught 
for me in the shallow waters between Ceylon 
and India. It is as nearly as possible half shark 
and half Ray, and is shown in the accompanying 
illustration. 
Between this and the typical ray stands the 
Beaked Ray , 2 much flatter than the preceding, 
and with the pectoral fins taking on ray-like spread 
1 Rham-pho-ba'tis an-cy-los'to-m.us . 
2 Of the genus Rhi-no-ba'tis. The species some- 
times seen on the coast of Florida is R. len-tig-i- 
no'sus. 
among fishes because of the very long, flat beak of 
bone which projects forward from its snout, armed 
on both sides with formidable teeth. The length 
of this saw is more than one-third the length of 
the head, body and tail. It is, we may safely 
assert, strictly a weapon of defence, nqt offence; 
for unless it is used as a shovel in searching for 
mollusks and other food on the bottom of the sea, 
it is useless in the search for food. 
When the Sawfish is threatened with attack, 
however, it defends itself by quickly curving side- 
3 Pris'tis pec-ti-na'tus. 
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