File:Ocean wonders- a companion for the seaside (1879) (14579880937).jpg

Identifier: oceanwonderscomp00damo (find matches)
Title: Ocean wonders: a companion for the seaside
Year: 1879 (1870s)
Authors: Damon, William Emerson, 1838-
Subjects: Marine animals Aquariums
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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Text Appearing Before Image:
THE HAMMER-HEADED SHARK (Zygcena malleus).

look up or down than in any other direction. It is vivipa-
rous. I have never succeeded in placing it in the aquarium
alive, though I have made thorough and repeated efforts to
do so. Whether they die from fright, or whether the eyes,
which are in such an exposed position, and are organically
connected with the brain, get injured by contact with the
can or vessel in which they are transported, it is difficult to
tell; but it is certain they do not make an effort to livea
fter capture. They are sometimes found in Long Island
Sound. Their range is from Brazil to Cape Cod, and except
by accident they are not found north of the latter.

SOME CURIOUS DENIZENS OF THE SEA 117

THE SKATE OR RAY (genus RaiA) contains many varieties,
such as the clear-nose, the spotted, the whip, the prickly-
tailed or sting ray, and the smooth skate (Rata lazvis). Speci-
mens of all these kinds of rays may frequently be seen hun
gup in the markets to attract attention, which they do from
the ludicrous, serio-comic facial expression. They are often
Text Appearing After Image:
THE UNDER-SIDE OF SKATE.

taken in company with the cod, and are occasionally eaten
by the buyers of cheap food, though their substance is chiefly
gelatinous and the flavor disagreeable. Some observers have
imagined that the under-side of the head bears a resemblance
to the human countenance, but we think no one would care

118 THE OCEAN.

to claim relationship with these nondescript-looking subjects.
The whip-ray is so named from the use he makes of his very
long, narrow tail, from five to six feet in length, which he
slashes around in fine style when excited. The tail of the
prickly or sting ray is beset with fine spines. The smooth
skate or ray is distinguished by a nearly total absence of
these spines. The eggs of the ray are of a curious shape—
a sort of oblong, with four ribbon-like threads attached, one

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