I 
BEAKED KAYS. 
539 
jaws; but the fish darts over its victim so as to cover and hold it down with its 
body, when it is conveyed by some rapid motions to the mouth. Rays do not 
descend to the same depth as sharks; with one exception, none are known to have 
been caught by a dredge working in more than one hundred fathoms. The majority 
are coast-fishes, and have a comparatively limited geographical range, none extend¬ 
ing from the northern into the southern temperate zone. Some of the eagle-rays 
are, however, more or less pelagic, although when these are met with swimming in 
the open sea it is probable that shoal-water exists at no great distance. As may 
be observed m many of the lochs on the west coast of Scotland, where these loath¬ 
some creatures may be seen flapping lazily alone at the bottom of the clear water, 
skates and rays are more or less gregarious fishes. They frequently arrive suddenly 
on oyster-beds,—to the dismay of the owners,—where they appear to remain so long 
halavi ray (i nat. size). 
as any of the molluscs are obtainable. Writing of the species armed with caudal 
spines, Day observes that they “ lie concealed in the sand, and are reputed to be 
able to suddenly encircle fish or other prey swimming above them with their long 
whip-like tails, and then wound them with their serrated tail-spines.” Many rays 
ascend rivers to considerable distance, and some kinds, especially in Tropical 
America, are exclusively inhabitants of fresh waters. Nearly all lay eggs. 
To illustrate the typical genus, which is represented by about 
Typical Genus. «/1 o ± j 
a dozen species from the warmer seas, we take the halavi ray 
(Rhinobatis halavi ), which ranges from the Mediterranean and the coasts of Western 
Africa to China. In these fish the depressed body passes imperceptibly into the 
tail; the muzzle is produced into a long beak, the space between which and the 
pectoral fin is occupied by a membrane; and the wide nostrils are oblique, with 
their front valves separate. The blunt teeth are marked by an indistinct trans- 
