- Mermaid's purse
Mermaid's purses (also known as Devil's Purses) are the normally empty egg cases of
skate s,shark s and rays. They are among the objects which are washed in by the sea, and can be found at the shore, at the furthest point of the high tide.The size of
mermaid 's purses vary; those of thesmall-spotted catshark or lesser spotted dogfish, "Scyliorhinus canicula ", are around convert|5|cm long, while those of thegreater spotted dogfish , "S. stellaris", are around convert|10|cm. That excludes the four longtendril s found in each corner, which assist in anchorage. Mermaid's purses from rays vary in that they have points rather than tendrils. The colour and shape of mermaid's purses also varies greatly fromspecie s to species.The young
fish would normallygestate between 6 to 12 months, but can be much longer for deep sea catsharks which lay their eggs in very cold water.If a mermaid's purse is still moist (not dried out) and has no visible hole, it is probably still occupied.
References
;General references
* [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/education/questions/Biology.html#purse Florida Museum of Natural History, Most Commonly Asked Questions]
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