§6.10#2Τὰ μὲν σκύλια καὶ αἱ βατίδες ἴσχουσι τὰ ὀστρακώδη, ἐν οἷς ἐγγίνεται ᾠώδης ὑγρότης· τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τοῦ ὀστράκου ὅμοιον ταῖς τῶν αὐλῶν γλώτταις, καὶ πόροι τριχώδεις ἐγγίνονται τοῖς ὀστράκοις.
The dogfish and the skates have shell-like cases, in which is produced an egg-like fluid; and the shape of the shell is similar to the mouthpieces of flutes, and hair-like ducts are produced in the shells.
Τοῖς μὲν οὖν σκυλίοις, οὓς καλοῦσί τινες νεβρίας γαλεούς, ὅταν περιρραγῇ καὶ ἐκπέσῃ τὸ ὄστρακον, γίνονται οἱ νεοττοί· ταῖς δὲ βατίσιν, ὅταν ἐκτέκωσι, τοῦ ὀστράκου περιρραγέντος ἐξέρχεται ὁ νεοττός.
Now, in the dogfish, which some call spotted sharks, when the shell breaks open and falls away, the young are born; but in the skates, when they have laid them, the young emerges after the shell breaks open.
Ὁ δ’ ἀκανθίας γαλεὸς πρὸς τῷ ὑποζώματι ἴσχει τὰ ᾠὰ ἄνωθεν τῶν μαστῶν· ὅταν δὲ καταβῇ τὸ ᾠόν, ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἀπολελυμένῳ γίνεται ὁ νεοττός.
The spiny dogfish has its eggs near the diaphragm, above the teat-like processes; and when the egg descends, upon this being detached, the young is formed.
Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον συμβαίνει ἡ γένεσις καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀλωπέκων.
In the same manner, the generation also occurs in the thresher sharks.
Οἱ δὲ καλούμενοι λεῖοι τῶν γαλεῶν τὰ μὲν ᾠὰ ἴσχουσι μεταξὺ τῶν ὑστερῶν ὁμοίως τοῖς σκυλίοις, περιστάντα δὲ ταῦτα εἰς ἑκατέραν τὴν δικρόαν τῆς ὑστέρας καταβαίνει, καὶ τὰ ζῷα γίνεται τὸν ὀμφαλὸν ἔχοντα πρὸς τῇ ὑστέρᾳ, ὥστε ἀναλισκομένων τῶν ᾠῶν ὁμοίως δοκεῖν ἔχειν τὸ ἔμβρυον τοῖς τετράποσιν.
Those called smooth sharks have their eggs between the uteri, similarly to the dogfish, and these, having shifted around, descend into each of the two branches of the uterus, and the young are produced having their umbilical cord attached to the uterus, so that, as the eggs are consumed, the embryo seems to have a state similar to that of quadrupeds.
Προσπέφυκε δὲ μακρὸς ὢν ὁ ὀμφαλὸς τῆς μὲν ὑστέρας πρὸς τῷ κάτω μέρει, ὥσπερ ἐκ κοτυληδόνος ἕκαστος ἠρτημένος, τοῦ δ’ ἐμβρύου κατὰ τὸ μέσον, ᾗ τὸ ἧπαρ.
The umbilical cord, being long, is attached on the side of the uterus to its lower part, each suspended as if from a cotyledon, and on the side of the embryo at the middle, where the liver is.
Ἡ δὲ τροφὴ ἀνατεμνομένου, κἂν μηκέτ’ ἔχῃ τὸ ᾠόν, ᾠώδης.
And the food of the embryo when dissected, even if it no longer has the egg, is egg-like.
Χόριον δὲ καὶ ὑμένες ἴδιοι περὶ ἕκαστον γίνονται τῶν ἐμβρύων, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν τετραπόδων.
A chorion and individual membranes are formed around each of the embryos, just as in quadrupeds.
Ἔχει δὲ τὰ ἔμβρυα τὴν κεφαλὴν νέα μὲν ὄντα ἄνω, ἁδρυνόμενα δὲ καὶ τέλεα ὄντα κάτω.
And the embryos have their head, when young, upwards, but when they grow and are mature, downwards.
Ἐγγίνεται δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ ἄρρενα καὶ ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ θήλεα, καὶ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἅμα θήλεα καὶ ἄρρενα.
And there are formed males in the left side and females in the right, and also both females and males together in the same side.
Καὶ τὰ ἔμβρυα διαιρούμενα, ὁμοίως ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν τετραπόδων, ἔχει τῶν σπλάγχνων ὅσα ἔχει μεγάλα, οἷον τὸ ἧπαρ, καὶ αἱματώδη.
And the embryos, when dissected, just as in quadrupeds, have those of the internal organs which are large, such as the liver, bloody.
Πάντα δὲ τὰ σελαχώδη ἅμα ἔχουσιν ἄνω μὲν πρὸς τῷ ὑποζώματι ᾠά, τὰ μὲν μείζω τὰ δ’ ἐλάττω, πολλά, κάτω δ’ ἔμβρυα ἤδη· διὸ πολλοὶ κατὰ μῆνα τίκτειν καὶ ὀχεύεσθαι οἴονται τοὺς τοιούτους τῶν ἰχθύων, ὅτι οὐχ ἅμα πάντα προΐενται, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις καὶ πολὺν χρόνον.
All the cartilaginous fish have at the same time many eggs, some larger and some smaller, above near the diaphragm, and below already embryos; wherefore many people think that such fish bring forth young and copulate every month, because they do not emit all of them at once, but many times and over a long period.
Τὰ δὲ κάτω ἐν τῇ ὑστέρᾳ ἅμα πέττεται καὶ τελεσιουργεῖται.
But those below in the uterus are concocted and perfected at the same time.
Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι γαλεοὶ καὶ ἐξαφιᾶσι καὶ δέχονται εἰς ἑαυτοὺς τοὺς νεοττούς, καὶ αἱ ῥῖναι καὶ αἱ νάρκαι (ἤδη δ’ ὤφθη νάρκη μεγάλη περὶ ὀγδοήκοντα ἔχουσα ἐν ἑαυτῇ ἔμβρυα), ὁ δ’ ἀκανθίας οὐκ εἰσδέχεται μόνος τῶν γαλεῶν διὰ τὴν ἄκανθαν.
Now, the other sharks both emit and receive back into themselves their young, and so do the angel-fishes and the electric rays (and once a large electric ray was seen having about eighty embryos in itself), but the spiny dogfish alone of the sharks does not receive them back, because of its spine.
Τῶν δὲ πλατέων τρυγὼν καὶ βάτος οὐ δέχονται διὰ τὴν τραχύτητα τῆς κέρκου.
And of the flat fishes, the sting-ray and the skate do not receive them back, because of the roughness of the tail.
Οὐκ εἰσδέχεται δ’ οὐδὲ βάτραχος τοὺς νεοττοὺς διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τὰς ἀκάνθας· οὐδὲ γὰρ ζῳοτοκεῖ μόνος τούτων, ὥσπερ εἴρηται πρότερον.
And the fishing-frog does not receive back its young either, because of the size of the head and the spines; for indeed it is the only one of these that is not viviparous, as was said before.
Αἱ μὲν οὖν πρὸς ἄλληλα διαφοραὶ τοῦτον ἔχουσι τὸν τρόπον αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ γένεσις ἡ ἐκ τῶν ᾠῶν·
Such, then, is the nature of their differences from one another, and their generation from the eggs.