Latin Texts & Translations

There is another kind of flat fish, which, instead of bones, has cartilage, such, for instance, as the raia, ^[Note] the pastinaca, ^[Note] the squatina, ^[Note] the torpedo, ^[Note] and those which, under their respective Greek names, are known as the ox, ^[Note] the lamia, ^[Note] the eagle, ^[Note] and

the frog. ^[Note] In this number, also, the squali ^[Note] ought to be included, although they are not flat fish. Aristotle was the first to call these fish by the one generic name of σελάχη, ^[Note] which he has given them: we, however, have no mode of distinguishing them, unless, indeed, we choose to call them the "cartilaginous" fishes. All these fish are carnivorous, ^[Note] and feed lying on their backs, just as dolphins do, as already ^[Note] noticed; while the other fishes, ^[Note] too, are oviparous, this one kind, with the exception of that known as the sea-frog, is viviparous, like the cetacea. ^[Note]