SHARKS AND RAYS 
269 
Phtto by IV, Saville~Ktnt. F.Z,$.^ 
OCELLATED DOG-FISH 
\_Milfo<'d~on-Sea 
So called from the pretence of the eye-like spots on the body, two of which can be seen above the 
breast-fins 
and Rough Hound, the 
Nurse, the Picked Dog, and 
the Silver Dog, or Tope. 
The Nurse and Rough 
Hound are spotted leopards 
of the sea, and the latter has a 
very curious property. If a 
fresh-caught “row-hound,” as 
the fishermen pronounce the 
name, be put in a basket or 
boat’s well with pollack and 
other fishes, the points of con- 
tact will be marked by dis- 
coloration of its neighbours. 
This is probably due to some 
acrid and bleaching secretion 
of the row-hound’s skin, for 
which some economic use 
might possibly be found. The 
Picked Dog, or Spur-dog, 
has very sharp spines in front 
of both back-fins, and has 
therefore to be handled by 
the fishermen very cautiously, often punishing their hands badly when entangled at night in the 
nets. Of Smooth Hounds there arc two species or varieties, between which there is some 
confusion, and in one at any rate there are interesting anatomical peculiarities in the unborn 
fish (like many other sharks and dog-fishes, the smooth hound bears living young instead of 
depositing eggs), any account of which would obviously be out of place in so short a description. 
Generally speaking, then, the sharks are cartilaginous fishes, having the upper lobe of the 
tail larger than the lower, a shovel-shaped snout, and the crescent-shaped mouth beneath the 
head. Another peculiar feature of the group is the presence of breathing-spiracles behind 
the eyes ; while the latter 
^ have a manner of blinking 
not found in other fishes. Of 
the teeth, which differ in 
structure from those of other 
kinds of fishes, there are 
several rows. The gill-open- 
ings are lateral, and usually 
number fiv^e, though one 
species has six and another 
seven. With the exception 
of the afore-mentioned B.\SK- 
ING-SMARK and the PORT 
Jackson Shark, which the 
writer met with in Australia, 
■ i they are all more or less 
. '\.j dangerous; and when of in- 
sufficient size to be harmful 
to man, do great damage 
Photo by A, S, Rudland <5r* Sons 
INDIAN STING-RAY 
The tail is armed with a powerful poison-spine 
18 
among the lines and nets of 
the fishermen. Indeed, the 
