. Natural history of the fishes of Massachusetts, embracing a practical essay on angling . The body is cineritious, rough, with bony tuber-cles, — each of which is furnished with a hookedspine, — the dorsal row being the longest; thetail is longer than the body, loaded with three rowsof spines. Usually, they are from two to three feet long,when fully grown. We cannot assert positivelythat we have seen one, yet we have an indistinctrecollection of such a circumstance, in the deep-water near Scituate, about eight years ago. Skate, — Raia Batis. All the borders ofMassachusetts are visited by the
. Natural history of the fishes of Massachusetts, embracing a practical essay on angling . The body is cineritious, rough, with bony tuber-cles, — each of which is furnished with a hookedspine, — the dorsal row being the longest; thetail is longer than the body, loaded with three rowsof spines. Usually, they are from two to three feet long,when fully grown. We cannot assert positivelythat we have seen one, yet we have an indistinctrecollection of such a circumstance, in the deep-water near Scituate, about eight years ago. Skate, — Raia Batis. All the borders ofMassachusetts are visited by the skate, someof which are in breadth as much as four or fivefeet, with a brown body, rough skin, — hav- 110 PLATYSOMI. ing a dirty crust of mucus and mud — and a longtail: it may always be known to those who seekit for cabinets. THE It has five branchial openings on each side,partly concealed by being underneath; twodorsal fins near the root of the tail; small teeth,of a conical form, wath broad bases. Males maybe known from the females by crooked or hookedspines on the pectoral fins. The ova are brown,cariaceous, and square, having four long arms,giving the egg-shell, which washes upon thebeach, the appearance of a hand-barrow. Let it be remembered, that the skate is a broad,thin, flat fish, terrific and disgusting to look upon,— possessing the voracity of the shark, without its rapidity. Their home is at the bottom,from which, with singularly constructed optics, RAIA. Ill they can look upwards on all that passesover. Cased in a partially bony shell, its edges seemto be eked out by broad gelatinous wings, withwhich they flap through the water, as a bird usesits wings, in aerial progression. In shoal, calmwater, we have often seen them lying at ease onthe mud of inlets, varying in size from an inch tofive feet.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectfishing, bookyear1
