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Show 29~ , PISCES. ToRPEDo, Dum.(l) The tail short, but still tolerably fleshy; disk of the body nearly circular, the anterior border being formed by two productions of the snout which incline side-wise in order to reach the pectorals; the space between these pectorals, head and br~nchice is filled on each side with a singular apparatus formed of httle membranous tubes placed close together like a honeycomb, subdivided by hori· zontal diaphragms into small cells filled with a sort of mucus, and traversed by numerous nerves proceeding from the eighth pair. It is in this apparatus that resides the electric or galvanic power which has rendered the Torpedo so celebrated; violent shocks are experienced by touching it, and it is most probable that the same power is employed to bewilder its prey. The body is smooth, the teeth small and sharp. Several species are found in the seas of Europe confounded by Linnceus and most of his successors under the name of Raia torpedo. ( 2) T. narke, Riss.; Bl., 122; Rondel., 258 and 362. (The Ocel· lated Torpedo.) Number of spots varying from five to one; no fleshy indentations on the edges of the spiracles. T. galvanii, Riss.; Rondel. 363, 1. (The Galvanic Torpedo.) Seven fleshy indentations round the spiracles; sometimes of a uniform fawn-colour, and sometimes marbled, dottedt or spot· ted with blackish. Several others are found in foreign seas.(3) RAIA, Cuv. Rays, properly so called, have a rhomboidal disk, a thin tail, fur· nished above and near its point with two small dorsals, and some· times with the vestige of a caudal; small, slender, and crowded teeth in quincunx order in the jaws. Many species inhabit ·the seas of (1) Torpedo, vip)(.ll, ancient names of these fishes, derived from their benumbing faculty. (2) The Torpille vulgaire d cinq taches. Torpedo narke, Riss., Ronde]., 358 and 362. Torpedo unimaculata, Riss., pl. iii, f. 3. T. ma1-morata, Id., lb., f. 4, Ronde!., 362. T. galvanii, Id., lb., f. 5, Ron del., 363, f. 1. (3) Temeree, Russel, I;-Nallatemeree, Id., 2;-the Raie chinoise, Lacep., T, ii, 2. lloth of them being the Raia timlei, Bl., Schn., 359. CHONDROPTERYGII BRANCHIIS FIXIS. 293 Europe which are not yet well determined. Their flesh though hard is eaten. R. clavata, L.; the male, Bl., 84, under the name of rubus, the female. (The Thornback.) Distinguished by its roughness and the thick, oval, bony tubercles, each of which is furnished with a recurved spine, that are irregularly scattered over its two surfaces. Their number varies greatly. R. rubus, L.;" Lacep., I, v (The Rough Ray), differs from the clavata in the absence of the tubercles. The male of both species, however, has hooked spines on the front and angle of the wings, their posterior edge being similarly furnished in the female. The appendages of the male are very long and complex.(!) R. batis, L.; R. oxyrhinchus major, Rondel., 348. (The Skate.) Superior surface of the body rough, but spineless, with a single row of spines on the tail. It is the largest of all the species, and is sometimes found to weigh upwards of two hundred pounds. It is spotted when young, assuming a more uniform and a paler tint with age.(2) In some species of Raia individuals have been observed with a recurved membrane on the middle of the disk, resembling a fin. Such, in the R. asp era, is the Raie Ouvier, Lacep., I, vii, 1. I have seen the same in a R. batis. The (1) N.D. The R. hatis, Penn. Brit. Zool., No. 30, is nothing more than this rubus, Lacep. The rubus, lll., 84, which is the R. clavata, Will., is, if not a species, at least a variety remarkable for the tubercles that are scattered over both surfaces. There is also a variety, R. oculata aspera, Uondel., 351, marked with an ocellated spot on each wing. (2) Add the R. undulata, Lacep., IV, xiv, 2, which differ but little, or not at all, from the mosai"que, I d., lb., XVI, 2;-the R. cltardon (R. fullonica, L. ), Rondel., 356, figured under the name of oxyrhinchus, Bl., 80, and Lacep., I, vi, 1;-the R. rudula, Laroche, An. Mus., XIII, 321, is closely allied to it.-The R. lentil/at (R. oxyrhinchus), Ronde!., 347, of which the Raie bordee, Lacep., V, xx, 2, or the R. r~8tellata, Risso, pl. 1 and 2, La?:Viraia, Salv., 142, is also a closely allied speCies;- R. fUterias, Ronde!., 350, and Laroche, An. Mus. XIII, pl. xx, f. l; R. miraletus, Rondel., 349;-R. aspera, Rood., 356. .No reliance w~atever is to be placed upon the synonymes given by Artedi, Li~n~us, and Bloch, as they are in a state of complete confusion, a circumstance prmcipally owing to the fact of their employing, as a chief character, the number of rows of spines on the tail, which varies both with the age and sex, and cannot serve to distinguish the species. That of sharp or blunt teeth is likewise not sure. |
