Batides. BlSHES. Pristidans. 167 
B. Second (fmsiora.— Torpedines.— Disc rounded; very- 
blunt in front. An electrical apparatus encompassed 
by the pectoral fins. One family, the ToRPEnmiD.®:. 
0. Third division.— — Pectorals cohering to the snout, 
the attacliment reaching backwards to the ventrals, 
forming an oval or rhomboidal disc, terminated by a 
more slender tail than the preceding groups. In the 
group are the following families ; — Raledje ; Trygo 
N lDiE; MyLIOBATIDAS; and CEPUALOPTElUDAi. 
Family L— PRISTIDANS {Pristidce). 
The members of this family have nearly the form of 
those sharks whose pectoral fins are distinctly separated 
from the head and do not reach to the ventrals. The 
snout is elongated and uniform, with stout lateral teeth 
which convert it into a double saw. The true jaw 
teeth resemble those of the Mustelidans, and form a 
mosaic pavement. The first dorsal stands close behind 
or partly over the ventrals. The lateral cuticular keels 
are not continued on the sides of the caudal. Very 
small, flat, roundish, or hexagonal scales clothe the 
smooth sleek skin. The fixmily consists of a single 
genus {Pristis) of about six species called saw-fishes, 
whose beaks are often seen in museums, but complete 
specimens are rare. 
Family II.— RHIN.fflDANS {Wiincedm). 
In these a disc is formed anteriorly by the con- 
junction of the pectorals with the snout. The four- 
cornered pectorals do not reach the ventrals, and are 
separated by a notch from the cephalic part of the disc. 
The lateral caudal keels are continued on the sides of 
the bilobate caudal, whose upper lobe is rather the 
largest. The margins of the jaws are undulated, three 
eminences of the lower one corresponding to as many 
hollows in the upper one. The nostrils are longitu- 
dinal slits near the mouth, with a flap abo\'e and 
below. 
The genera are — Rhi.ui and Rhinchobatus. 
Family III. — RHINOBATIDS (^Rhinobatidce). 
The ventrals in this group are close behind the pec- 
torals, which pass imperceptibly into the snout, without 
the notch of the Rhinaedans. The two dorsals situated 
on the hinder part of the tail are equal in size, and the 
caudal has no under lobe. The keels commencing 
behind the ventrals converge towards the upper edge 
fo the caudal. The transverse mouth is straight or 
gently arched. The flat quincuncial teeth are traversed 
by a cross ridge. The spout-holes are close beneath 
the eyes, and there is a row of pores beneath the 
scapulo-coracoid girdle. 
The genera are — Rhinobutus ; Syrrhina; Trugonorhina; and 
Platyrhina ; all of them foreign to om- seas. 
A “ Snow-fish” of great rarity, whose skin is prized 
greatly in Assam as a valued medicine, was recognized 
by Mr. Blyth as a Rldnohatus. The Gungball or 
Snow-fish of Kunawar is thought by some naturalists 
to be a burrowing lizard. It is described by the natives 
as having four legs and a human face. 
Family IV.— TORPEDINIDS (Torpedinidce). 
In the members of this family a galvanic battery 
occupies the spaces between the skull and the pectoral 
fins on each side, and as usual in electrical fishes the 
skin is quite smooth, developing neither ordinary scales 
nor acute spines. The disc is rounded, very obtuse 
anteriorly, and terminates posteriorly in a tail, which is 
less fleshy than that of the two preceding species, and 
is provided with a sub-triangidar caudal. The dorsals 
are either absent, or there is one or two situated in the 
tail, and the ventrals are close behind the pectorals. 
A longer or shorter keel exists on the side of the tail. 
The following genera enter the family- — Torpedo; Narcinei 
Astrape ; Temera ; Discoj>yge ; and Hemigaleus. Two species 
of Torpedo are natives of the British seas. 
Family V. — RAIANS {Raimdae). 
In this numerous family the disc is rhomboidal, the 
lateral angles being formed by the meeting of the proxi- 
mal and distal margins of the pectoral fin of each side ; 
the snout being a third angle of the rhomb, and the 
origin of the tail the fourth. The attachments of the 
pectorals extend from the roots of the ventrals to the 
snout. The orbits are separated from the spout-holes 
by slender cutaneous bridges ; and each of the nostrils, 
which are on the ventral aspect, is protected by a free 
rounded lobe of the nasal flap, as it projects laterally 
from the even surface of the upper lip. The flat teeth 
acquire a central cusp in the adult fish in the season of 
reproduction. Two small dorsals are situated towards 
the end of the tail ; and the caudal is either absent or 
exists merely in form of a cuticular seam. The skin 
is smooth or prickly. „ 
The genera are — Raice ; Sympterygia ; and Urapiera. 
Eight diflerent species of Skates {Raice) inhabit the 
British seas, and furnish much wholesome nourishment 
to the population. 
Family VI. — TRYGONIDS {Trygonidce). 
i 
In this family the nasal flaps are not lost in the upper 
lip so as to form one even surface between the nostrils, 
but have a common free ledge with short fringes, which 
is attached to the upper jaw by a mesial bridle only, 
while the rounded lateral ends project over the nostrils. 
Under the flap the nostrils approach each other, and 
there is no valvular lobe on their exterior sides. The 
large spout-holes are close behind the eyes, which have 
adnate eyelids. The teeth are transversely elliptical, 
and have a rounded cross ridge, with either an acute 
root or one divided into points. The ventrals are 
simple. The tail is thin and often taper-pointed, with- 
out lateral cutaneous keels. It has no caudal or other 
kind of fin either before or behind a barbed spine, or 
spines, which it sometimes bears, sometimes wants. 
The genera which enter the family are — Anacanthus ; Uro- 
gymnus ; Trygort ; Pteroplatea ; Ilypolophus ; Tamiura ; Uro- 
lophus; Trygonoptera ; jJitoplatea. 
The Sting-ray or Fire-flaire {Trygon pastinaca) is 
a British species. 
