atlantic torpedo ( tetronarce nobiliana ) is a species of electric ray in the family torpedinidae .

it is found in the atlantic ocean , from nova scotia to brazil in the west and from scotland to west africa and off southern africa in the east , occurring at depths of up to 800 m ( 2,600 ft ) .

younger individuals generally inhabit shallower , sandy or muddy habitats , whereas adults are more pelagic in nature and frequent open water .

up to 1.8 m ( 6 ft ) long and weighing 90 kg ( 200 lb ) , the atlantic torpedo is the largest known electric ray .

like other members of its genus , it has an almost circular pectoral fin disk with a nearly straight leading margin , and a robust tail with a large triangular caudal fin .

distinctive characteristics include its uniform dark color , smooth-rimmed spiracles ( paired respiratory openings behind the eyes ) , and two dorsal fins of unequal size .

solitary and nocturnal , the atlantic torpedo is capable of generating up to 220 volts of electricity to subdue its prey or defend itself against predators .

its diet consists mainly of bony fishes , though it also feeds on small sharks and crustaceans .

it is an aplacental viviparous species , wherein the developing embryos are nourished by yolk and later maternally provided histotroph ( " uterine milk " ) .

females give birth to up to 60 young following a gestation period of one year .

the electric shock of this species can be quite severe and painful , though it is not fatal .

because of its electrogenic properties , the atlantic torpedo was used in medicine by the ancient greeks and romans and became the namesake of the naval weapon .

prior to the 19th century , its liver oil was used as lamp fuel , but it is no longer of any economic value .

the international union for conservation of nature ( iucn ) has listed this species as data deficient ; it is caught unintentionally by commercial and recreational fishers , but the impact of these activities on its population is unknown .

atlantic torpedo

the common torpedo was originally described by linnaeus as raja torpedo in 1758 tenth edition of his systema naturae . in 1838 , it placed under the torpedo genus and assigned its currently valid scientific name of torpedo torpedo by bonaparte ( linnaeus 1838 ) . synonyms include torpedo narce risso 1810 , torpedo narke risso 1810 , torpedo ocellata rafinesque 1810 , torpedo unimaculata risso 1810 and torpedo oculata davy 1834 . torpedo is the roman name referring to electric rays with the latin origin , torpere , meaning
to be numb
.
scalloped hammerhead shark ( sphyrna lewini ) and atlantic torpedo ray ( tetronarce nobiliana ) . photo by jan factor .
the atlantic torpedo has a diet consisting of crustaceans , mollusks , worms , as well as other invertebrates and fishes .
the common torpedo resides in the eastern atlantic ocean in the southern bay of biscay and throughout the mediterranean to angola .
the electric organs of the atlantic torpedo are capable of producing 220 volts of electricity , partially due to the large size attained by this species . however , the atlantic torpedo has not been known to seriously injure humans in its natural environment .
abdel - aziz , s . h . 1994 . observations on the biology of the common torpedo ( torpedo torpedo , linnaeus , 1758 ) and marbled electric ray ( torpedo marmorata , risso , 1810 ) from egyptian mediterranean waters . australian journal of marine and freshwater research 45 ( 4 ) : 693 - 704 .
the atlantic torpedo occurs on both side of the north atlantic ocean . in the northwest atlantic , it ranges from nova scotia south to florida and the northern gulf of mexico . in the eastern atlantic , it ranges from northern scotland to tropical west africa , including the mediterranean . this species is not common in the canadian atlantic as it is primarily a warmer water species ; however , strays are occasionally captured , especially during the summer months .
after seeing the pictures of the discovery , new england aquarium media relations director tony lacasse told wbz - tv the man had come across an atlantic torpedo ray .
torpedo ray / electric ray . . . . . raie torpille / raie electrique ! .
oceanic whitetip first shark listed as “threatened” in the continental u . s . atlantic
torpedo rays are only seen in the boston area a few times each summer , lacasse said .
common torpedo grow to a maximum total length of 23 . 6 inches . photo © george burgess
urltoken copyright ( c ) 2018 by the atlantic monthly group . all rights reserved .
the electric shock from the common torpedo is quite strong but is not life - threatening to humans .
[ 57 ] this torpedo is also reported from the florida keys and from cuba but on doubtful evidence .
…the shocks of the species torpedo nobiliana were used as a treatment for gout , headache , and other maladies .
parasites known parasites of the common torpedo include the tapeworm phyllobothrium lactuca and the monogeneans amphibdella paronaperugiae and amphibdelloides benhassinae .
like most batoids , the atlantic torpedo is a bottom - dwelling fish inhabiting muddy or sandy bottom ecosystems , usually in shallow water areas but reaching depths of 60 fathoms . individuals often lie partially buried in the substrate .
did a huge glowing sea creature help push the u . s . into the vietnam war ? - the atlantic
stegeman jj . hepatic microsomal monooxygenase activity and biotransformation of hydrocarboms in deep benthic fish from the western north atlantic .
on this day in 1917 , germany announces the renewal of unrestricted submarine warfare in the atlantic as german torpedo - armed submarines prepare to attack any and all ships , including civilian passenger carriers , said to be sighted in war - zone waters .
the battle of the atlantic , from 1939 to 1945 , was the longest continuous battle of the second world war .
rarely utilised . historically , in adriatic sea , torpedo marmorata was sold smoked although its meat was of the lowest commercial value ( ninni 1912 ) .
lacasse said it is not a sting ray , and is instead is the only electric ray in this part of the atlantic ocean .
in a wonderful passage from fishes of the gulf of maine , bigelow and schroeder provide perspective on the historical abundance of atlantic herring .
this species has a wide distribution in the atlantic ocean . western atlantic : from nova scotia , canada , south to brazil . eastern atlantic : from scotland ( rare in north sea ) , south to morocco , including the mediterranean sea , and from mauritania to the gulf of guinea , and namibia to mossel bay in south africa ( whitehead et al . 1984 , florida museum of natural history ) .
kidd rb , huggett qj . rock debris on abyssal plains in the northeast atlantic : a comparison of epibenthic sledge hauls and photographic surveys .
van der vat d . the atlantic campaign : the great struggle at sea , 1939–1945 . 1988 . 424 hodder & stoughton , london .
atlantic bluefin tunas have streamlined bodies built for speed and endurance . they can even retract their dorsal and pectoral fins into slots to reduce drag .
w . a . b . douglas . 2010 . battle of the atlantic . the canadian encyclopedia urltoken ( accessed july 9 , 2018 ) .
in the english language , this ray is commonly referred to as pacific electric ray , torpedo , pacific torpedo , and electric ray . in other languages , common names include californisk darrocka ( swedish ) , raya electrica ( spanish ) , pazifischer zitterrochen ( german ) , dretwa kalifornijska ( polish ) , and pacifische sidderrog ( dutch ) .
the atlantic torpedo is easily recognizable from other species of batoid inhabiting the northwest atlantic due to its subcircular , disc - shaped body formed partially by its pectorals which attach anteriorly to either side of the head , extending beyond the eyes . other distinguishing characteristics include its stout tail , which is either as long as or shorter than its body ; and its distinct head , which contains powerful electric organs visible as large , kidney - shaped patches on sides of head that are capable of producing extremely painful shocks . the atlantic torpedo has a small mouth filled with small , rounded teeth , with some having sharp cusps ; small , almost absent , eyes ; and skin that is naked , soft , and loose . the dorsal ( x 2 ) and caudal fins of the atlantic torpedo are well - developed , with the first dorsal larger than the second and located partially posterior to the pelvic fins . coloration varies from uniform ( or slightly spotted ) dark - chocolate brown to nearly slate - gray or black on the dorsal surface , with the ventral surface being white edged with light brown .
the waters off the north carolina coast are known as the graveyard of the atlantic and torpedo junction . here , dozens of ships — mostly merchant vessels — were sunk by german u - boats . the national oceanic and atmospheric administration ( noaa ) estimates that from january to august 1942 , more than 50 vessels were lost to the u - boat assault . the remains of those ships , along with several u - boats , rest on the atlantic ocean seafloor .
hareide n - r , garnes g . the distribution and catch rates of deep water fish along the mid - atlantic ridge from 43°n to 61°n .
the torpedo , like others of its tribe , is a bottom fish . it is a fish eater . the stomach of one taken at woods hole contained a summer flounder (
due to their great abundance , the atlantic herring became one of the most important and sought after fish species in the gulf of maine . they still are .
prince ed , luo j , goodyear lp , hoolihan jp , snodgrass d , et al . ocean scale hypoxia - based habitat compression of atlantic istiophorid billfishes .
on january 31 , 1917 , germany announces the renewal of unlimited submarine warfare in the atlantic , and german torpedo - armed submarines prepare to attack any and all ships , including civilian passenger carriers , said to be sited in war - zone waters . three days later , the united states broke diplomatic relations with germany , and just . . .
justification : the spotted torpedo ( torpedo marmorata ) seems to have a wide distribution throughout the eastern atlantic ocean and the mediterranean sea . its life history traits are relatively well known , however its abundance and possible threats faced by this species are not well known throughout its range . trawl survey data indicate that this species is more common that other torpedo species in the northern mediterranean sea and may be increasing in coastal waters of italy . little is known of population trends or the impact of fisheries off western africa and throughout the rest of its range , where demersal trawl effort is high . therefore it is assessed as data deficient globally at present , until information on its population status can be obtained from throughout its range .
justification : the great torpedo ray ( torpedo nobiliana ) has a relatively wide range in the atlantic ocean , including the mediterranean sea . adults are frequently pelagic or semi - pelagic , from near the surface to 800 m depth , whereas juveniles are mainly benthic living on soft - substrate and coral reef habitat in shallower water . very little data are available on population or catch trends , although surveys suggest that this species is rare in the mediterranean sea . when caught , torpedo rays are usually discarded at sea , resulting in very little data on catches of these species . the great torpedo ray is caught with bottom trawls and line gear and further research is required to determine the impact of fishing activities on the species . destruction and degradation of the species ' shallow water nursery grounds may threaten juveniles . at present this species is assessed as data deficient globally due to very little information on catches and population trends .
justification : this electric ray occurs in the eastern atlantic , from the southern bay of biscay , south to angola and in the mediterranean sea . the ocellate torpedo ( torpedo torpedo ) is primarily coastal , found in inshore waters , although occasionally found to depths of > 300 m . the species is apparently more common in southern mediterranean waters than in the northern mediterranean . trawl survey data available from the northern mediterranean indicate that the ocellate torpedo is less common than other torpedo species in this area . few data are currently available from throughout the rest of the species’ range . this species is taken as bycatch in demersal fisheries , including coastal artisanal fisheries , trawls and trammel nets , although no specific data are available on its capture and it is most likely discarded at sea . post discard survival may be relatively high because it is often caught in shallow waters . at present insufficient data are available to assess this species beyond data deficient globally . demersal fishing pressure is relatively intensive in large areas of its range and there is a need to further investigate the impact of fisheries and habitat pressures on this species .
capapé , c . 1979 . the marble ray , torpedo marmorata risso 1810 ( pisces , rajiformes ) of the tunisian coasts : new data on ecology and biology of reproduction of the species with a comparison between mediterranean and atlantic populations . ann . sci . nat . zool . , biol . anim . 1 ( 2 ) : 79 - 97 .
eastern central and southeast atlantic ocean : recorded from senegal to angola ( cadenat et al . 1978 , capapé and desoutter 1990 , carvalho and séret in press ) .
w . a . b . douglas , r . the canadian encyclopedia . ( 2010 ) . battle of the atlantic . retrieved july 9 , 2018 , from urltoken
copley jtp , jorgensen pbk , sohn ra . assessment of decadal - scale ecological change at a mid - atlantic hydrothermal vent and reproductive time - series in the shrimp
predators potential predators include larger marine fish such as sharks especially in cooler waters where it is unknown if the common torpedo ' s electric organs are able to discharge a charge to deter predators .
douglas , w . & dubreuil , b . . r . the canadian encyclopedia . ( 2010 ) . battle of the atlantic . retrieved july 9 , 2018 from urltoken
douglas , w . & dubreuil , b . . r . the canadian encyclopedia . ( 2010 ) . battle of the atlantic . retrieved july 9 , 2018 from urltoken
douglas , w . a . b . and dubreuil , brian . 2010 . battle of the atlantic . the canadian encyclopedia urltoken ( accessed july 9 , 2018 ) .
w . a . b . douglas .
battle of the atlantic
in the canadian encyclopedia . historica canada , 1985– . article published april 25 , 2010 . urltoken
in recognition of canada’s substantial role , the allies put the entire northwest atlantic — from nova scotia to the arctic circle — under canadian control . rear admiral leonard murray was named commander - in - chief , canadian northwest atlantic . he was the only canadian to command an allied theatre of conflict in either the first or second world wars .
this species is captured in demersal fisheries , including bottom trawls , trammel nets , and artisanal coastal fisheries . even though it is edible , it is landed in very few fisheries and is most often discarded at sea . post discard survival may be relatively high because it is often caught in shallow waters . torpedo torpedo appears to be consistently present in the demersal catch of fisheries on northern mediterranean shores . no information is currently available on catches throughout the rest of the species’ range in the eastern atlantic , although inshore fishing pressure is relatively intensive across large areas of this range .
canada declared war on germany a week later , on 10 september 1939 . immediately , canada’s navy , merchant marine and air force were thrust into the battle of the atlantic .
eastern atlantic : scotland ( rare in north sea ) to morocco , whole of mediterranean , but not black sea ; cap blanc in mauritania to gulf of guinea , são tomé island ; walvis bay , namibia to mossel bay , south africa ( ref . 5578 ) . western atlantic : nova scotia , canada south to brazil ( ref . 26340 ) .
eastern atlantic and mediterranean sea : from the northern uk , south to cape of good hope , south africa , and throughout the mediterranean sea ( whitehead et al . 1984 ) .
w . a . b . douglas and brian dubreuil .
battle of the atlantic .
in the canadian encyclopedia . historica canada , 1985— . article published april 26 , 2010
w . a . b . douglas
battle of the atlantic
the canadian encyclopedia . eds . . toronto : historica canada , 2010 . web . 9 jul . 2018 .
the pacific electric ray is one of 14 described species of electric rays , but is the only species limited to the west coast of the us . the species was first described as torpedo californica by ayres in 1855 , but was later placed in the genus tetronarce by gill in 1861 . the animal was ultimately returned to its previous genus and is currently known as torpedo californica . its genus name , torpedo , comes from the latin word ' torpidus ' meaning numbness in reference to the effect of the electric organ . the species name , californica , denotes where the animal was first discovered - the state of california ( u . s . ) .
douglas , w . a . b . and brian dubreuil .
battle of the atlantic
. the canadian encyclopedia . toronto : historica canada , 2010 . web . 26 apr 2010 .
douglas , w . a . b . and brian dubreuil .
battle of the atlantic
. the canadian encyclopedia . toronto : historica canada , 2010 . web . 26 apr 2010 .
peele er , singleton fl , deming jw , cavari b , colwell rr . effects of pharmaceutical wastes on microbial populations in surface waters at the puerto rico dump site in the atlantic ocean .
bailey dm , collins ma , gordon jdm , zuur af , priede ig . long - term changes in deep - water fish populations in the northeast atlantic : a deeper reaching effect of fisheries ?
benn a , weaver pp , billett dsm , van den hove s , murdock ap , et al . human activities on the deep seafloor in the north east atlantic : an assessment of spatial extent .
mellinger , j . 1971 . croissance et reproduction de la torpille ( torpedo marmorata ) . i . introduction écologie , croissance générale et dimorphisme sexuel , cycle , fécondité . bull . biol . fr . belgique 105 : 165 - 218 .
although the common torpedo is edible , it is typically discarded when taken as bycatch in commercial and artisanal fisheries . due to its shallow water habitats , the common torpedo often survives being captured and discarded . it is susceptible to demersal fishing gear such as bottom trawls and trammel nets and although fishing pressure is intense within its geographic range , there is no specific data on this species . this species can be maintained in aquariums , however it requires a supply of live fish for food .
the battle of the atlantic , from 1939 to 1945 , was the longest continuous battle of the second world war . canada played a key role in the allied struggle for control of the north atlantic , as german submarines worked furiously to cripple the convoys shipping crucial supplies to europe . victory was costly : more than 70 , 000 allied seamen , merchant mariners and airmen lost their lives , including 4 , 600 canadians .
the common torpedo is currently listed as data deficient with the world conservation union ( iucn ) . the iucn is a global union of states , governmental agencies , and non - governmental organizations in a partnership that assesses the conservation status of species .
in the north pacific ocean the pacific herring , clupea pallasii , closely resembles our atlantic species , clupea harengus . while morphologically similar , there are some differences in their life histories . atlantic herring spawn in the spring and fall whereas pacific herring are strictly spring spawners . pallasii is the latinized last name of petrus simon pallas , a russian naturalist and explorer who first described the pacific species during his travels in the north pacific .
wigham b , hudson i , billett dsm , wolff ga . is long - term change in the abyssal northeast atlantic driven by qualitative changes in export flux ? evidence from selective feeding in deep - sea holothurians .
the atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the largest , fastest , and most gorgeously colored of all the world’s fishes . their torpedo - shaped , streamlined bodies are built for speed and endurance . their coloring—metallic blue on top and shimmering silver - white on the bottom—helps camouflage them from above and below . and their voracious appetite and varied diet pushes their average size to a whopping 6 . 5 feet in length and 550 pounds , although much larger specimens are not uncommon .
many of these attacks took place in an area of the mid - atlantic that became known as the “black pit” — a stretch of ocean beyond the range of allied aircraft tasked with providing aerial coverage for the convoys .
atlantic menhaden migrate north from the mid - atlantic states in the summer and , in some years , are very abundant in the gulf of maine . schools of menhaden can be so abundant that when they crowd into warm , shallow , inshore waters , or are forced in by predatory bluefish , they use up all the oxygen in the water and die . the last time this happened in maine was in the early 1990 ' s .
eastern atlantic , including mediterranean sea : occurs from the southern bay of biscay ( records as far north as belgium are questionable ) , south to angola . also occurs throughout the mediterranean sea ( whitehead et al . 1984 ) .
whitehead , p . j . p . , bauchot , m . - l . , hureau , j . and tortonese e . 1984 . fishes of the northeastern atlantic and the mediterranean , vol . i . unesco , paris .
the marbled electric ray , also known as the marbled torpedo ray , is one of many ray species that will literally leave prey in shock . equipped with electric organs , this ray is an advanced ambush predator whose mottled skin color renders it nearly invisible to unsuspecting eyes .
for the most part , herring in the gulf of maine are similar in appearance . upon closer examination , there are some notable differences among these species ; for example , the narrow atlantic round herring is 1 / 6 deep as long while the deep - bodied hickory shad can be 1 / 3 deep as it is long . [ 3 ] some are entirely marine species while others are anadromous river herring . in total , there are nine herring species in the gulf , including the commonly found atlantic herring , blueback herring , alewife , american shad , and atlantic menhaden . less common are the atlantic thread herring , round herring and hickory shad . gizzard shad have invaded some rivers and possibly estuaries in the gulf of maine region . according to bigelow and schroeder , co - authors of fishes of the gulf of maine , hickory shad were at one time caught in a number of rivers in the gulf of maine , which is the northern extreme of their range .
what distinguishes atlantic herring from all other herring and , in fact , all other fish species in the gulf of maine , is their great abundance . linneaeus ( the father of modern classification ) referred to the herring as
copiosissimus piscis ,
or , in other words , the most prolific of fish . [ 4 ] count the individual fish in the gulf of maine - ( a task akin to counting the ants in portland , maine ) - and the atlantic herring vastly outnumbers the other species .
the atlantic herring is a relatively small fish that schools in waters of northern latitudes , filtering plankton from the water . in contrast , the tropical wolf herring grows up to a meter in length and is a voracious predator of fish , including other herring species .
many of those who died have no gravesite — their bodies were lost to the atlantic . their names are commemorated on the sailors’ memorial in point pleasant park in halifax . their sacrifice is also honoured in special ceremonies held every year on the first sunday in may .
. on a global scale , most deep - sea bottom trawling happens on sedimentary slopes . in the ospar area ( northeastern atlantic ) , the spatial extent of bottom trawling is orders of magnitude greater than that of submarine cables , waste disposal and oil and gas exploitation
this british ocean liner traveled the route between liverpool , england and new york city , including a port of call at queenstown , ( now cobh ) ireland . during world war i , the ship was hit by a german torpedo on may 7 , 1915 , and then sank within just 18 minutes of being hit .
to begin probing the living communities of the sites , last year scientists conducted biological and ecological investigations on four world war ii shipwrecks ( the keshena , city of atlanta , dixie arrow and em clark ) , as part of noaa ' s battle of the atlantic research project .
. the most common litter types found on the deep–sea floor in the mediterranean and northeastern atlantic are soft plastic ( e . g . bags ) , hard plastic ( e . g . bottles , containers ) , glass and metal ( e . g . tins , cans ) (
this small torpedo has an oval pectoral disc with a straight edge at the very front , an elongated body with rounded pelvic fins , and two small dorsal fins set back on its stout tail near its triangular caudal ( tail ) fin . it is white underneath , and reddish brown on top , with five dark blue spots ringed with dark and light accents . the solitary nocturnal fish scavenges the shallow coastal sea floor for crustaceans and bony fish , using the kidney - shaped electric organs on either side of its head to stun its prey . although it can only shock a human , because of its shallow habitat , caution should be used when possibly interacting with this torpedo .
the most interesting thing about the torpedo is its ability to give electric shocks of considerable strength to anyone touching it . the statement , even , has long been current that the shock from a large one in rested condition may be strong enough to throw a full grown man to the ground . and the story is told of a dog which was in the habit of wading on a cape cod beach in shoal water to catch flounders , but was so shocked by a torpedo that it ran away howling and could never be persuaded to go fishing again . in fact , this anecdote antedates the scientific naming of the new england torpedo . but shocks of a strength even approaching what is suggested by such reports are to be expected only from torpedos of the largest size in rested condition . the voltage recorded recently was 170 to 220 for one that had been kept in a live well . and the most we have felt ourselves from medium - sized torpedos lying on the dock at woods hole has been a slight benumbing sensation .
both sides of the north atlantic [ 56 ] from southern nova scotia ( la have bank ) , bay of fundy , and georges bank to north carolina in the west ; [ 57 ] and from northern scotland to the mediterranean , azores , madeira , and tropical west africa in the east .
froescheis o , looser r , cailliet gm , jarman wm , ballschmiter k . the deep sea as a final global sink of semi - volatile persistent pollutants ? part i : pcbs in surface and deep - dwelling fish o the north and south atlantic and the monterey bay canyon ( california ) .
looser r , froescheis o , cailliet gm , jarman wm , ballschmiter k . the deep sea as a final global sink of semi - volatile persistent pollutants ? part ii : organochlorine pesticides in surface and deep - dwelling fish o the north and south atlantic and the monterey bay canyon ( california ) .
century and , for the next 150 years , one of the main waste products of steam power was a hard residue of burnt coal called clinker . this material was usually dumped over the ship ' s side . in a survey on the nodule - free abyssal plain in the northeastern atlantic , kidd and huggett
on this day in 1953 , flooding in the north sea kills more than 1 , 500 people in the netherlands and destroys 1 million acres of farmland . the storm also caused death and destruction in great britain and belgium . the storm began in the north atlantic and moved slowly toward the british isles . . .
) ( bini 1967 ) . the medits trawl survey covers the north mediterranean coast almost continuously from western morocco and spain in the west mediterranean to the aegean sea in the eastern mediterranean . a total of 6 , 336 tows were performed during 1994 - 1999 in depths ranging from 10 - 800 m . torpedo marmorata occurred in 317 of 6 , 336 hauls ( baino
the name as allocated to the southern african material is provisional . work underway suggests that there may be a tropical species from off southern mozambique that is more similar to true t . nobiliana from the north atlantic than to specimens from namibia and the cape . work is underway to clarify the taxonomy of the indian ocean species .
bluefins attain their enormous size by gorging themselves almost constantly on smaller fish , crustaceans , squid , and eels . they will also filter - feed on zooplankton and other small organisms and have even been observed eating kelp . the largest tuna ever recorded was an atlantic bluefin caught off nova scotia that weighed 1 , 496 pounds .
herring are pelagic , fish that inhabit the open sea and offshore banks for most of their lives . young juveniles (
brit
) are numerous in inshore waters along the maine coast in the spring and summer . adults migrate across hundreds of miles of ocean during their life span . in the winter , schools of migrating atlantic herring can join forces , forming massive expanses of fish as far as the eye can see . in the north atlantic , people have observed herring schools measuring up to 4 . 5 billion cubic meters ( over 4 cubic kilometers ) in volume , with densities of up to 1 fish per cubic meter . [ 5 ]
it bears
living
young , but there is no placental connection between embryo and mother . and it seems that the young are born offshore , for the smallest torpedo yet recorded from american inshore waters ( from new jersey ) was about 2 feet ( 610 mm . ) long . and we doubt if it succeeds in producing young in the colder waters of our gulf .
presumably taken as bycatch in demersal trawl fisheries . intensive artisanal fisheries and industrial trawl fisheries operate within this species’ known range and although torpedo rays are of little commercial value , they still suffer fishing mortality as bycatch . fisheries off western africa have undergone huge development during the past 20 years , in terms of numbers of boats and improvement of gear ( walker et al . 2005 ) .
) . observations from submersibles at depths of 1000–2000 m on the southern california margin reveal that litter , in the form of torpedo wire , plastic bags and miscellaneous items ( shoes , furniture , naval debris , etc . ) is the primary source of solid substrata at bathyal depths in this region ( cr smith , pers . obs . from about 50 submersible and rov dives ) (
in the mediterranean sea , this species is more common along the northern african ( southern mediterranean ) coasts . surveys in the northern mediterranean sea suggest that it is uncommon and less abundant than t . marmorata there . standardized index of abundance in italian ‘grund’ trawl surveys ranged from 0 . 01 to 0 . 1 specimens per hour ( ferretti unpublished analyses ) . torpedo torpedo was recorded in 28 of 6 , 336 hauls conducted during medits trawl surveys in the northern mediterranean sea , from 1994 - 1999 at depths of 10 - 800 m ( baino et al . 2001 ) . the species is rare around the balearic islands . in some regions t . torpedo was recorded in the past but now are under detectable levels by trawl surveys . for example in the adriatic sea ( northern mediterranean ) , it was reported as rare in species lists but has not been recorded in recent trawl surveys ( ninni , 1912 , jukic - peladic et al . 2001 ) . the species has been recorded in trawl surveys along the western coast of africa ( gulyugin et al . 2006 ) , but virtually no other information is currently available from throughout the rest of the species range .
the first shots on the atlantic were fired on 3 september 1939 , just hours after britain formally declared war on germany . off the coast of ireland , a german submarine , u - 30 , torpedoed the ss athenia , a passenger ship en route to montréal with more than 1 , 400 passengers and crew on board ; 112 people were killed , including 4 canadians .
justification : mediterranean regional assessment : least concern ( lc ) the great torpedo ray ( tetronarce nobiliana ) is a widespread , large ( up to 180 cm total length ) electric ray . adults are pelagic and / or semi - pelagic , swimming in the water column at depths of zero to 800 m , whereas juveniles are mainly benthic and live on soft substrate and reef habitat in shallower water . this electric ray is caught incidentally in bottom trawls and line gear in the mediterranean sea , and usually discarded at sea , resulting in limited catch data ; very little catch data are available from scientific trawl surveys either . given that this is a widespread pelagic species that is rarely caught in fisheries , the great torpedo ray is assessed as least concern in mediterranean waters . further research is required to assess the effect of fishing activities on the population and identify important habitats .
this type of coloration (
countershading
) is common in pelagic species of fish , as it provides a degree of camouflage in open waters . if viewed at close range , the atlantic herring can be positively identified by its conspicuous cluster of small teeth arranged in an oval shape on the roof of its mouth . no other herring species possesses this distinctive circle of teeth .
the torpedo is more common south and west from cape cod than to the northward and eastward . but it strays past the elbow of the cape often enough for it to be classed as a regular member of the gulf of maine fish fauna . the most northeasterly records for it are of one presumably of this species taken in st . margarets bay , nova scotia , some 30 years ago ; one caught on a long line set for cod
two nights after the august 2 attack , a storm struck . the black sea blended with the black sky , obscuring a horizon of heavy waves . crews aboard the two destroyers thought they detected small , fast - moving vessels that mimicked the attack patterns of the north vietnamese torpedo boats . for several hours , the two ships defended themselves , performing high - speed evasive maneuvers , firing almost 650 cannon shells and several depth charges into salty darkness .
perhaps the best - known maritime tragedy of all time , the rms titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the north atlantic ocean on april 15 , 1912 , after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from southampton , uk to new york city , us . the sinking of titanic caused the deaths of 1 , 514 people in the third deadliest non - military maritime disaster in history .
food habits adult common torpedos feed primarily on benthic bony fish such as soles , herring , gobies , mullet , goatfish , porgies , dragonets , and jack mackerels . in addition , they are also known to occasionally eat crustaceans and even skates . in contrast , juveniles feed on a variety of marine invertebrates . this species is solitary and nocturnal , living along the ocean floor often buried in sediments as it waits in hiding . as an ambush predator , it pounces on its prey and stuns it in a fraction of a second with an electrical current . once the prey is stunned , the torpedo swallows it whole . the common torpedo can use its pair of large electric organs to stun prey and deter threats . each organ is comprised of 400 - 500 columns that contain jelly - filled disks referred to as
electroplaques
. these columns work together and are capable of discharging up to 200 volts either singly or in bursts .
the torpedo is of no commercial value nowadays , but its liver oil was considered equal to the best sperm for illuminating purposes before the use of kerosene oil was general . there is an old tale that its oil was a good cure for cramps if rubbed on externally , for stomach trouble if taken internally . and when one is landed on the dock at woods hole it is an object of interest to the workers at the biological laboratory because of its electric discharges .
during the battle , the maddox crew reported detecting more than 20 torpedoes on sonar . sailors claimed to have seen enemy cockpit lights , and searchlights across the water . sonarmen also thought they heard the sound of torpedo propellers over the hydrophones . turner joy ’s crew reported spotting the wakes of two torpedoes 300 feet off their port side . but when the heat of battle finally subsided , no enemy vessels were accounted for . none were seen retreating ; none had been destroyed .
this benthic ray is common in tropical waters , found on soft substrates , usually inshore , but also down to 70m or occasionally to depths of > 300 m ( gulyugin et al . 2006 ) . the maximum recorded size is reported at about 60cm total length ( tl ) ( serena 2005 ) , although data from egyptian waters suggests that maximum size is smaller at 38 . 6 cm tl ( abdel - aziz 1994 ) . this study in egyptian waters reports that size at maturity is 18 cm for males and 22 cm for females ( abdel - aziz 1994 ) . aplacental viviparous . the species appears to have a restricted breeding season , and females appear to breed annually ( abdel - aziz 1994 ) . births usually occur between march and september with 3 - 21 juveniles of 8 - 10 cm length ( serena 2005 ) . numbers depend on the size of the female . torpedo torpedo feeds on small fishes , but also takes benthic invertebrates .
stehmann , m . and d . l . bürkel , 1984 . torpedinidae . p . 159 - 162 . in p . j . p . whitehead , m . - l . bauchot , j . - c . hureau , j . nielsen and e . tortonese ( eds . ) fishes of the north - eastern atlantic and mediterranean . unesco , paris . vol . 1 . ( ref . 2803 )
atlantic bluefins are warm - blooded , a rare trait among fish , and are comfortable in the cold waters off newfoundland and iceland , as well as the tropical waters of the gulf of mexico and the mediterranean sea , where they go each year to spawn . they are among the most ambitiously migratory of all fish , and some tagged specimens have been tracked swimming from north american to european waters several times a year .
the battle of the atlantic was a critical part of the allied victory in the second world war . canada entered the war as a small country with an even smaller navy . from a handful of ships and a few thousand personnel , the royal canadian navy expanded into a major fleet , with more than 400 ships and 90 , 000 sailors . by war’s end , canada had the fourth - largest navy in the world .
streamlined for swimming , the herring body is relatively deep and flattened laterally ( side - to - side ) , with a distinctly forked tail ( caudal fin ) . turn an atlantic herring sideways and you could probably slide it under your closet door . the compressed body and silvery scales serve as camouflage in the open waters of the ocean , scattering light and helping to conceal herring from predators attacking from the deep . [ 1 ]
canada’s role was primarily escort duty for the hundreds of convoys that gathered in halifax and sydney , nova scotia , for the treacherous journey across the atlantic . other canadian ports , including st . john ' s , newfoundland , harboured naval and merchant vessels that joined the convoys . the first convoy , hx - 1 , left halifax on 16 september 1939 escorted by british cruisers and two canadian destroyers , hmcs st . laurent and hmcs saguenay .
the maximum reported length of a male common torpedo is 23 . 6 inches ( 60 . 0 cm ) total length ( tl ) and 16 . 1 inches ( 41 . 0 cm ) tl for a female specimen . however , this species more commonly reaches lengths of 11 . 8 inches ( 30 cm ) tl ( male ) and 15 . 6 inches ( 39 cm ) tl ( female ) . common torpedos reach larger sizes in waters off of africa in comparison to those residing in the mediterranean sea .
we need also consider the mix of regional commercial land uses ( e . g . , agriculture , ornamental aquaculture ) , and outdoor recreational activities ( e . g . , fishing and boating ) that have the potential to act as vectors for the introduction of new species . consider the ease with which recreational boaters can transport marine invaders large distances when they trailer boats up and down the coast or between florida ' s gulf and atlantic coasts .
) . furthermore , a study of the blanes margin ( northwestern mediterranean ) between 900 and 1500 m depth has shown that litter accumulates in the deepest areas sampled ( ramirez - llodra , unpublished data ) . conversely , careful examination of the lisbon , setúbal , nazaré and whittard canyon systems of the northeastern atlantic by rov showed only minor litter with the majority in the lisbon canyon off the tagus mouth ( paul tyler , pers . obs . ) (
the great torpedo ray occurs at depths of zero to 800 m . juveniles are mainly benthic on soft substrates and coral reef habitats at depths of 10−150 m , and sometimes considerably deeper ( up to 350 m ) . adults may be pelagic or semi - pelagic , solitary , and are reportedly capable of migrating over great distances ( ebert and stehmann 2013 ) . specimens were captured in medits surveys throughout the depth range surveyed ( 10−800 m ) , but mostly at depths of 200−500 m ( baino et al . 2001 ) .
a likely factor contributing to the myliobatoidei and torpedinoidei having relatively few dietary studies and low sample sizes is the availability of specimens and the type and location of the fisheries they interact with . the three skate species with the highest sample numbers l . erinacea ( 19 , 738 ) , a . radiata ( 8 , 381 ) and r . clavata ( 3 , 424 ) are all caught in the atlantic ocean and retained for human consumption or for use as lobster bait [ 25 ] – [ 27 ] . likewise , s . ancathias from the atlantic ocean , mediterranean sea and pacific ocean is retained for commercial sale [ 28 ] . importantly , these species are , at least in part , caught in well - developed and regulated fisheries such as those of the united states of america and the united kingdom [ 25 ] , [ 26 ] . this provides greater access and opportunity with respect to collection and processing of large sample sizes .
the atlantic herring is a small , pelagic plankton - feeder that grows to a maximum of 17 inches and 1 . 5 pounds . distinguishing characteristics include a dorsal fin located midway along the body and a weak saw - toothed keel along the belly . the fish is iridescent , greenish or grayish blue dorsally with a silvery abdomen and sides . the
pearl essence
of the scales was extracted by the englehard corporation of eastport , maine for use as a pigment in cosmetics and paints .
“he was not supposed to be talking about this stuff , i’m sure , ” says newberry , a professor emeritus of marine biology at the university of california , santa cruz who recently recounted this conversation to me . as newberry tells it , the sonar engineer spoke of strange shapes picked up on the turner joy ’s sonar displays during the supposed attack . the objects were the size of torpedoes , but they didn’t move like any torpedo the engineer had ever seen before . they seemed to have a will of their own—to come at the ship , then drift right under .
justification : this poorly known electric ray is sporadically recorded from senegal to angola in the eastern atlantic ocean at depths of 5 to 60 m . very little is currently known about this species’ habitat and biology , except that it is ovoviviparous and attains a maximum size of at least 60 cm tl . intensive artisanal fisheries and industrial trawl fisheries operate within this species’ known range , in which it is presumably taken as bycatch . insufficient information is currently available to assess this species beyond data deficient and information is urgently needed for reassessment .
bluefin tuna have been eaten by humans for centuries . however , in the 1970s , demand and prices for large bluefins soared worldwide , particularly in japan , and commercial fishing operations found new ways to find and catch these sleek giants . as a result , bluefin stocks , especially of large , breeding - age fish , have plummeted , and international conservation efforts have led to curbs on commercial takes . nevertheless , at least one group says illegal fishing in europe has pushed the atlantic bluefin populations there to the brink of extinction .
the laying of underwater telegraph cables came early in our understanding of the deep sea . hms cyclops in 1855 was used to determine the depth profile between the uk and newfoundland for the laying of the first transatlantic cable . the first effort in 1857 failed when the cable - dispensing machinery became disabled and cut the wire , but the cable was finally successfully connected in 1858 [ 81 ] . in subsequent years , cables were laid in many parts of the global oceans . it was the recovery of a broken cable from 2180 m between sardinia and bona , encrusted with the coral caryophyllia that demonstrated the viability of life at lower bathyal depths . in the northeastern atlantic , a maximum spatial extent of submarine cables in the ospar northeastern atlantic area has been estimated to range between 5 and 10 km 2 , although this is most likely an underesftimate as it does not take into account the effects of plough burial [ 27 ] . pipelines offer a similar scenario , although they tend to be physically bigger than cables . we predict minimal impact of underwater cables ( tables s2 and s3 ) .
at its largest , a colony of giant pyrosomes can reach up to 60 feet . they live worldwide , in tropical and temperate oceans , and are known to inhabit the gulf of tonkin . moreover , pyrosomes are sometimes found floating in clusters of several colonies near the surface of the ocean at night . the colonies swim much slower than a moving torpedo , but their appearance in a pitched battle could have been very confusing . “these things are the size of torpedoes , so they produce the same [ sonar ] image , ” says newberry . “it all fit together , as far as the character of the colony and its behavior . ”
by 1943 , a series of factors helped turn the tide of the battle . british intelligence , which had already cracked the germans ' enigma code , made even further advances in this field , allowing the allies to better track german communications and u - boat movements . new long range aircraft were also developed that allowed for full aerial coverage of the atlantic . britain’s royal navy undertook more aggressive tactics against the u - boats , forming elite hunter groups of its best anti - submarine ships to prowl the ocean searching for submarines and to aid convoys under attack .
silvery scales , however , are of no help during attacks from above . even in murky water , the flashing of silver alerts fishermen to the herring ' s presence . anglers searching for tarpon , a tropical herring - like fish , scan the water for that distinctive silver flank and single dorsal fin breaking the surface . the long , slender , highly - prized tropical tarpon is herring - like in appearance but weighs over one hundred and sixty times more than an average atlantic herring and can grow almost 80 inches longer , up to eight feet in length .
this german transport ship had 6 , 100 documented passengers on board ( and possibly hundreds more undocumented ) when it was struck on april 16 , 1945 , by a soviet submarine in the baltic sea during world war ii . just seven minutes after being struck by the torpedo , the ship sank , killing almost all of the passengers and crew aboard , either inside the ship , or outside by drowning and hypothermia in the icy waters . this disaster is largely believed to be the second - worst in maritime history , based on the number of casualties . the ship was loaded with women and children ( only two children were among the 183 passengers who survived ) .
this species is occasionally caught with bottom trawls and line gear , including recreational fisheries . torpedo rays are usually discarded at sea , resulting in very little data on catches of these species . historically this species was valued for its liver oil for use in lamps , prior to the use of kerosene oil , but a lack of data on catches makes it difficult to determine population trends ( florida museum of natural history ) . this is a large , potentially vulnerable species , and the impact of bycatch on populations needs to be assessed . the species ' preference for reef environments for spawning may make it vulnerable to the indirect effects of habitat degradation from destructive bottom trawling practices .
adult torpedoes are usually 2 to 5 feet long or a little longer , and heavy for their size . specimens taken at woods hole average about 30 pounds , while most of those taken anywhere on our atlantic coast weigh less than 75 pounds . but we have seen one only about 4 feet long from chesapeake bay that weighed about 100 pounds ; one of 144 pounds was brought from nantucket to the u . s . fisheries station at woods hole many years ago ; and the heaviest taken near provincetown were estimated long ago by a fisherman of keen observation as 170 to 200 pounds .


gilles de retz ( 1953 – 1969 ) was a british thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 guineas in 1956 .

after winning twice from five starts as a two-year-old , the colt disappointed on his three-year-old debut before recording a 50/1 upset victory in the guineas .

although the feat was not officially recognised at the time , gilles de retz 's success made helen johnson houghton the first woman to train the winner of a british classic .

the colt failed to reproduce his best form in three subsequent efforts in 1956 and won once from four attempts as a four-year-old .

he was retired to stud where he had little success as a sire of winners .

gilles de retz ( horse )

gilles de retz
redirects here . for the racehorse , see gilles de retz ( horse ) .
so far , there are no tournament results from gilles de retz xx are stored .
matei cazacu , gilles de rais , 2005 , p . 11 ; 23 - 25 .
gilles de rais is featured as one of the antagonists in the 2011 anime fate / zero .
gilles de rais is featured as a nephilim in the manga and anime series devils and realist .
bataille , georges . the trial of gilles de rais . los angeles : amok , 1991 .
gilles de rais is the pseudonym ( gilles de rais . . . child - murderer ) for ray ' s character in the episode titled
live and let dine
in season 4 of the fx series , archer .
bordonove , georges . gilles de rais . pygmalion . isbn 978 - 2 - 85704 - 694 - 3 .
ambroise ledru ,
gilles de rais dit barbe - bleue , maréchal de france . sa jeunesse , 1404 - 1424
, l ' union historique et littéraire du maine , vol . i , 1893 , pp . 270 - 284 ; matei cazacu , gilles de rais , 2005 , p . 11 .
cebrián , juan antonio . el mariscal de las tinieblas . la verdadera historia de barba azul . temas de hoy . isbn 978 - 84 - 8460 - 497 - 6 ( spanish ) .
bataille , georges . the trial of gilles de rais . amok books . isbn 978 - 1 - 878923 - 02 - 8 .
in 1987 , the spanish director agusti villaronga directed the film tras el cristal , with an original script based on the killings of gilles de rais .
gilles de rais is mentioned in the crime novel revelation by c . j . sansom , whose case is cited as a historic precedent for serial killing
lampo , hubert . le diable et la pucelle . 163 p . , presses universitaires du septentrion , 2002 , isbn 2 - 85939 - 765 - 5 . ( traduction française de de duivel en de maagd ) .
gilles de montmorency - laval ( also known as gilles de rais ) ( prob . c . september 1405 – 26 october 1440 ) , baron de rais , was a breton knight , a leader in the french army and a companion - in - arms of joan of arc . he is best known by his reputation and conviction as a prolific serial killer of children .
helen johnson houghton , who has died aged 102 , became the first woman to train a classic winner when she sent out gilles de retz to win the 2 , 000 guineas in 1956 ; her name did not , however , appear in the record books as the jockey club did not in those days recognise women trainers .
dick hern called nashwan
the best horse i ' ve ever trained
. [ 3 ]
, whose father and uncle were both major forces in british horse racing . he was sired by
gilles de retz ( gb ) b . h , 1953 { 5 - g } dp = 22 - 6 - 7 - 1 - 6 ( 42 ) di = 3 . 00 cd = 0 . 88 - 14 starts , 4 wins , 1 places , 2 shows career earnings : $ 37 , 127 ( £13 , 884 )
cradle of filth ' s album godspeed on the devil ' s thunder is centered on the life of gilles de rais after joan of arc ' s burning .
gilles de retz had been winter favourite for the race , but had run badly in the greenham stakes on heavy going , and went off in the guineas at 50 - 1 ( unbacked , it is said , by his trainer ) . “the greenham made me realise how far from being fit gilles de retz was , ” helen johnson houghton later explained . “he was very lazy and did nothing on the gallops . but he did a lot more when trotting up the hill from the village , so that’s what we did with him to get him fit . ” although helen johnson houghton had trained the horse , he ran under the name of her assistant , charles jerdein , who later became an art dealer in new york — in her words , “selling old masters to old mistresses” .
classical scenes of farwell ,
a short - story by jim shepard , is told from the point of view of one of gilles de rais ' servants .
benedetti , jean ( 1971 ) .
gilles de rais
. new york : stein and day . isbn 978 - 0 - 8128 - 1450 - 7 .
nye , robert . the life and death of my lord , gilles de rais . time warner books . isbn 978 - 0 - 349 - 10250 - 4 .
la passion de gilles , opera ( french libretto ) , 1983 , music : philippe boesmans , libretto : pierre mertens based on his 1982 play ( same title ) .
in may 1431 , joan of arc was burned at the stake ; gilles was not present . his grandfather died 15 november 1432 , and , in a public gesture to mark his displeasure with gilles ' reckless spending of a carefully amassed fortune , left his sword and his breastplate to gilles ' younger brother rené de la suze . [ 21 ]
as a result of infirmities from old age . he is buried in the national stud ' s horse cemetery .
the protagonist durtal , from huysmans ' s là - bas ( 1891 ) , conducts intensive research into gilles de rais which forms the basis of many of the chapters in the novel .
although gilles de rais was convicted of murdering many children through his confessions and the detailed eyewitness accounts of his own confederates and victims ' parents , [ 45 ] doubts have persisted about the court ' s verdict . counterarguments are based on the theory de rais was himself a victim of an ecclesiastic plot or act of revenge by the catholic church or french state . doubts on gilles de rais ' guilt have long persisted because the duke of brittany , who was given the authority to prosecute , received all the titles to gilles ' former lands after his conviction . the duke then divided the land among his own nobles . writers such as french professor and secret societies specialist jean - pierre bayard , in his book plaidoyer pour gilles de rais , contend he was a victim of the inquisition .
gilles de rais was probably born in late 1405 [ 1 ] to guy ii de montmorency - laval and marie de craon in the family castle at champtocé - sur - loire . [ 2 ] he was an intelligent child , speaking fluent latin , illuminating manuscripts , and dividing his education between military discipline and moral and intellectual development . [ 3 ] [ 4 ] following the deaths of his father and mother in 1415 , gilles and his younger brother rené de la suze were placed under the tutelage of jean de craon , their maternal grandfather . [ 5 ] jean de craon was a schemer who attempted to arrange a marriage for twelve - year - old gilles with four - year - old jeanne paynel , one of the richest heiresses in normandy , and , when the plan failed , attempted unsuccessfully to unite the boy with béatrice de rohan , the niece to the duke of brittany . [ 6 ] on 30 november 1420 , however , craon substantially increased his grandson ' s fortune by marrying him to catherine de thouars of brittany , heiress of la vendée and poitou . [ 7 ] their only child marie was born in 1429 . [ 8 ]
the first documented case of child - snatching and murder concerns a boy of twelve called jeudon ( first name unknown ) , an apprentice to the furrier guillaume hilairet . [ 28 ] gilles de rais ' cousins , gilles de sillé and roger de briqueville , asked the furrier to lend them the boy to take a message to machecoul , and , when jeudon did not return , the two noblemen told the inquiring furrier that they were ignorant of the boy ' s whereabouts and suggested he had been carried off by thieves at tiffauges to be made into a page . [ 28 ] in gilles de rais ' trial , the events were testified to by hillairet and his wife , the boy ' s father jean jeudon , and five others from machecoul .
wolf , leonard ( 1980 ) .
bluebeard : the life and times of gilles de rais
. new york : clarkson n . potter , inc . . isbn 978 - 0 - 517 - 54061 - 9 .
in 1992 , freemason jean - yves goëau - brissonnière , the grand master of the grand lodge of france , organized a court consisting of former french ministers , parliament members and unesco experts to re - examine the source material and evidence available at the medieval trial . the hearing , which concluded gilles de rais was not guilty of the crimes , was turned into a documentary called gilles de rais ou la gueule du loup , narrated by gilbert prouteau .
coup de folie b . 1982 gw 4 wins f : 12 r : 10 w : 7 sw : 5
hyatte , reginald . laughter for the devil : the trials of gilles de rais , companion - in - arms of joan of arc ( 1440 ) . fairleigh dickinson univ press . isbn 978 - 0 - 8386 - 3190 - 4 .
a scopey , substantial horse with plenty of athleticism . he has plenty of quality and good forelegs . from top class family with looks to match .
bad - legged horse with something of the same temperament that marked his close relative nasrullah , royal charger was far from a top horse on the race course and was packed off to stud with relatively modest expectations . he soon proved that in his case , his royal bloodlines trumped his individual performance . a
lampo , hubert . de duivel en de maagd . 207 p . , amsterdam , meulenhoff , 1988 ( 11e druk ) , isbn 90 - 290 - 0445 - 2 . ( 1e druk : ’s - gravenhage , stols , 1955 ) .
gilles de rais is believed to be the inspiration for the 1697 fairy tale
bluebeard
(
barbebleu
) by charles perrault . his life is the subject of several modern novels , and referenced in a number of rock bands ' albums and songs .
morgan , val . the legend of gilles de rais ( 1404 - 1440 ) in the writings of huysmans , bataille , planchon and tournier ( studies in french civilization , 29 ) . edwin mellen press . isbn 978 - 0 - 7734 - 6619 - 7 .
don’t forget me’s 1987 win was a second for richard hannon and came after an eleventh hour scare when the horse injured a foot on the morning of the race .
in 1434 / 1435 , he retired from military life , depleted his wealth by staging an extravagant theatrical spectacle of his own composition and dabbled in the occult . after 1432 gilles engaged in a series of child murders , his victims possibly numbering in the hundreds . the killings came to an end in 1440 , when a violent dispute with a clergyman led to an ecclesiastical investigation which brought gilles ' crimes to light . at his trial the parents of missing children in the surrounding area and gilles ' own confederates in crime testified against him . gilles was condemned to death and hanged at nantes on 26 october 1440 .
murray , margaret ( 1921 ) . the witch - cult in western europe . oxford : clarendon press . pp . 173–174 .
gilles de rais was tried and executed as a witch and , in the same way , much that is mysterious in this trial can also be explained by the dianic cult
a member of the house of montmorency - laval , gilles de rais grew up under the tutelage of his maternal grandfather and increased his fortune by marriage . he earned the favour of the duke of brittany and was admitted to the french court . from 1427 to 1435 , gilles served as a commander in the royal army , and fought alongside joan of arc against the english and their burgundian allies during the hundred years ' war , for which he was appointed marshal of france .
despite his successes , royal palace was never voted british horse of the year , being beaten by busted in 1967 and sir ivor in 1968 . he was given a relatively modest timeform rating of 131 .
then in 2009 the race went the way of a horse who had looked all promise beforehand , albeit most likely over longer distances . this was the year that sea the stars came to the fore and john oxx’s colt stamped his class on the guineas before claiming the derby , eclipse , juddmonte international , irish champion stakes and arc de triomphe in an astonishing career .
on sunday 17 july 1429 , gilles was chosen as one of four lords for the honor of bringing the holy ampulla from the abbey of saint - remy to notre - dame de reims for the consecration of charles vii as king of france . [ 19 ] on the same day , he was officially created a marshal of france . [ 17 ]
mill reef was never beaten again and would go on to win the epsom derby , eclipse stakes , king george vi and queen elizabeth stakes , arc de triomphe and coronation cup .
this feature allows you to add personal notes to any horse record . only you will be able to see or add to these personal notes . this feature is only available in the sporthorsedata pro version which will be available soon .
although cameronian was found to be running a temperature after the race he soon recovered . his connections were unable to explain his poor effort , with darling explicitly ruling out the possibility of the horse having been
got at
.
following the siege of orleans , rais was granted the right to add a border of the royal arms , the fleur - de - lys on an azure ground , to his own . the letters patent authorizing the display cited gilles’
high and commendable services
, the
great perils and dangers
he had confronted , and
many other brave feats
. [ 20 ]
on 23 october 1440 , the secular court heard the confessions of poitou and henriet and condemned them both to death , [ 40 ] followed by gilles ' death sentence on 25 october . [ 40 ] gilles was allowed to make confession , [ 40 ] and his request to be buried in the church of the monastery of notre - dame des carmes in nantes was granted . [ 41 ]
there have been some extraordinary performances down the years and two stand out visually : tudor minstrel was a brilliantly fast horse who in 1947 annihilated his rivals by 8 lengths , giving the great jockey gordon richards his third victory in the race .
that horse was a son of the mighty northern dancer and his name was nijinsky . in a glorious career , nijinsky had dominated the two year old rankings in 1969 and returned with success over the famous national hunt stallion deep run in the gladness stakes . at newmarket he ambled to an easy two and a half length victory over yellow god at odds - on , before brilliantly winning the derby and scrambling home in the st leger . no horse since has won the colt’s triple crown .
she enjoyed point - to - pointing , and in the 1930s married gordon johnson houghton . the wedding had been scheduled for 1936 , but depended on their collecting from a gamble on a horse called fan mail winning a seller . gordon decided to give the ride to the horse’s stable lad , and everything looked rosy until the jockey , for no discernible reason , picked up his whip and fan mail suddenly veered off the course . as a result the marriage had to be delayed for a year .
nashwan was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion at his owner ' s shadwell stud . his most successful racehorses were swain ( foaled 1992 ) , dual winner of the king george vi and queen elizabeth diamond stakes , and bago ( 2001 ) , winner of the prix de l ' arc de triomphe . the best of his fillies was the international stakes winner one so wonderful . [ 18 ]
in 1438 , according to testimony at his trial from the priest eustache blanchet and the cleric françois prelati , de rais sent out blanchet to seek individuals who knew alchemy and demon summoning . blanchet contacted prelati in florence and convinced him to take service with his master . having reviewed the magical books of prelati and a traveling breton , de rais chose to initiate experiments , the first taking place in the lower hall of his castle at tiffauges , attempting to summon a demon named barron . de rais provided a contract with the demon for riches that prelati was to give to the demon at a later time .
in 2000 coolmore and o’brien had another strong fancy in giant’s causeway but in a huge field , it was king’s best , ridden coolly by kieren fallon , who weaved a path through and defeated the iron horse who promptly went on to win five successive group ones .
execution by hanging and burning was set for wednesday 26 october . at nine o‘clock , gilles and his two accomplices made their way in procession to the place of execution on the ile de biesse . [ 42 ] gilles is said to have addressed the crowd with contrite piety and exhorted henriet and poitou to die bravely and think only of salvation . [ 41 ] gilles ' request to be the first to die had been granted the day before . [ 40 ] at eleven o ' clock the brush at the platform was set afire and rais was hanged . his body was cut down before being consumed by the flames and claimed by
four ladies of high rank
for burial . [ 41 ] [ 43 ] henriet and poitou were executed in similar fashion but their bodies were reduced to ashes in the flames and then scattered . [ 41 ] [ 43 ] [ note 1 ] [ 44 ]
then in 1992 lester piggott , by now aged 56 , was reunited with the robert sangster colours he had ridden in with such distinction during the 1970s – and won the 2 , 000 guineas aboard rodrigo de triano .
in the early 20th century , anthropologist margaret murray and occultist aleister crowley are among those who questioned the involvement of the ecclesiastic and secular authorities in the case . murray , who propagated the witch - cult hypothesis , speculated in her book the witch - cult in western europe that gilles de rais was really a witch and adherent of a fertility cult centered on the pagan goddess , diana . [ 46 ] [ 47 ] however , many historians reject murray ' s theory . [ 48 ] [ 49 ] [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] [ 53 ] norman cohn argues that her theory does not agree with what is known of gilles ' crimes and trial . [ 54 ] [ 55 ] historians do not regard gilles as a martyr to a pre - christian religion ; other scholars tend to view him as a catholic who descended into crime and depravity . [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ]
[ the boy ] was pampered and dressed in better clothes than he had ever known . the evening began with a large meal and heavy drinking , particularly hippocras , which acted as a stimulant . the boy was then taken to an upper room to which only gilles and his immediate circle were admitted . there he was confronted with the true nature of his situation . the shock thus produced on the boy was an initial source of pleasure for gilles . [ 28 ]
gilles de rais features as a minor antagonist in the 1999 video - game castlevania 64 , and it ' s sequel castlevania : legacy of darkness . he , along with another antagonist , actrise , attempts to revive the main antagonist dracula , and later , masquerades as dracula , dissuading the main characters from progressing . in game , he appears as an elderly man with a blue beard . his crimes of murdering children , however , is ascribed to actrise .
our babu ' s highest timeform rating was 131 as a two - year - old in 1954 , when the organisation rated him the equal - best horse of his generation in europe . a rating of 130 is considered the mark of an above average group one winner . [ 1 ]
in 1961 her son fulke took over the yard , sending out successful horses such as ribero , habitat , double form and ile de bourbon . the licence is now held by his daughter ( and helen’s granddaughter ) eve johnson houghton .
as befits its standing , the guineas is a group 1 flat horse race open to three - year - old thoroughbred colts and fillies . it is run on the rowley mile at newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and takes place each year at the end of april or first saturday in may .
following the london & north eastern railway tradition of naming locomotives after winning racehorses , [ 12 ] british railways
deltic
diesel locomotive no . d9020 ( later 55020 ) was named after the horse on 12 february 1962 , [ 1 ] and remained in service until 5 january 1980 . [ 13 ]
in his confession , gilles maintained the first assaults on children occurred between spring 1432 and spring 1433 . [ 26 ] the first murders occurred at champtocé - sur - loire ; however , no account of these murders survived . [ 27 ] shortly after , gilles moved to machecoul where , as the record of his confession states , he killed , or ordered to be killed , a great but uncertain number of children after he sodomized them . [ 27 ] forty bodies were discovered in machecoul in 1437 . [ 27 ]
poitou testified that he and henriet burned the bodies in the fireplace in gilles ' room . the clothes of the victim were placed into the fire piece by piece so they burned slowly and the smell was minimized . the ashes were then thrown into the cesspit , the moat , or other hiding places . [ 30 ] the last recorded murder was of the son of éonnet de villeblanche and his wife macée . poitou paid 20 sous to have a page ' s doublet made for the victim , who was then assaulted , murdered , and incinerated in august 1440 . [ 31 ]
the precise number of gilles ' victims is not known , as most of the bodies were burned or buried . the number of murders is generally placed between 80 and 200 ; a few have conjectured numbers upwards of 600 . the victims ranged in age from six to eighteen and included both sexes .
gilles ' bodyservant étienne corrillaut , known as poitou , was an accomplice in many of the crimes and testified that his master hung his victims with ropes from a hook to prevent the child from crying out , then masturbated upon the child ' s belly or thighs . taking the victim down , rais comforted the child and assured him he only wanted to play with him . gilles then either killed the child himself or had the child killed by his cousin gilles de sillé , poitou or another bodyservant called henriet . [ 29 ] the victims were killed by decapitation , cutting of their throats , dismemberment , or breaking of their necks with a stick . a short , thick , double - edged sword called a braquemard was kept at hand for the murders . [ 29 ] poitou further testified that rais sometimes abused the victims ( whether boys or girls ) before wounding them and at other times after the victim had been slashed in the throat or decapitated . according to poitou , rais disdained the victim ' s sexual organs , and took
infinitely more pleasure in debauching himself in this manner . . . than in using their natural orifice , in the normal manner .
[ 29 ]
in 1970 , a film was made about his racing career entitled a horse called nijinsky . narrated by orson welles , it was released in british cinemas and in 1988 released on vhs video . [ 29 ] the nijinsky team also was voted the 1970 bbc sports personality of the year team award . [ 30 ] in a poll in 2000 , readers of the uk newspaper the sun voted nijinsky their
horse of the millennium .
[ 31 ] among the more unusual tributes , a cabernet sauvignon wine [ 32 ] and a variety of winter wheat [ 33 ] have been named in nijinsky ' s honour . bronze statues of him stand at ballydoyle and at the curragh racecourse . [ 34 ] [ 35 ]
nijinsky was given a rating of 138 by timeform , the second highest for a winner of the epsom derby up to that time . [ 23 ] this was later scaled up to 140 by the racing post [ 2 ] . he was timeform ' s horse of the year for 1970 . nijinsky was also voted british horse of the year by the racecourse association , gaining 38 of the 40 votes . [ 24 ] in their book a century of champions , john randall and tony morris rated nijinsky as a
great
derby winner and the best irish racehorse of the 20th century . [ 25 ] vincent o ' brien named nijinsky and sir ivor as the best horses he had trained , placing nijinsky first
for brilliance .
[ 26 ] lester piggott concurs saying
i think nijinsky probably on his day was the most brilliant horse i ' ve ever ridden
[ 27 ] . geoff lewis who rode mill reef to be second against brigadier gerard in the 1971 2 , 000 guineas felt that nijinsky was the best guineas winner of the 1970s decade [ 28 ] .
topically disraeli won the guineas in 1898 while the brilliant filly sceptre in 1902 , became the only horse in history to win four english classics , claiming the 2 , 000 guineas and then following up in the fillies’ equivalent the 1 , 000 guineas two days later . a bruised foot interrupted her preparations for the epsom derby where she finished fourth but she then won the oaks and st leger .
after frankel’s extraordinary rout in 2011 , the following year yielded hopes of a triple crown winner at long last . camelot had been a leading two year old but was another horse expected to excel over longer distances . however , he won the 2 , 000 guineas with a late burst of speed and then claimed the derby and irish derby , only to be denied at doncaster in the st leger .
the extensive witness testimony convinced the judges that there were adequate grounds for establishing the guilt of the accused . after rais admitted to the charges on 21 october , [ 38 ] the court canceled a plan to torture him into confessing . [ 39 ] peasants of the neighboring villages had earlier begun to offer up accusations that since their children had entered gilles ' castle begging for food they had never been seen again . the transcript , which included testimony from the parents of many of these missing children as well as graphic descriptions of the murders provided by gilles ' accomplices , was said to be so lurid that the judges ordered the worst portions to be stricken from the record .
in the decades following the breton war of succession ( 1341–64 ) , the defeated faction led by olivier de blois , count of penthièvre , continued to plot against the dukes of the house of montfort . [ 9 ] the blois faction , who still refused to relinquish their claim to rule over the duchy of brittany , had taken duke john vi prisoner in violation of the treaty of guérande ( 1365 ) . [ 10 ] the sixteen - year - old gilles took the side of the house of montfort . rais was able to secure the duke ' s release , and was rewarded with generous land grants which were converted to monetary gifts . [ 11 ]
in june 1435 , family members gathered to put a curb on gilles . they appealed to pope eugene iv to disavow the chapel of the holy innocents ( which he refused to do ) and carried their concerns to the king . on 2 july 1435 , a royal edict was proclaimed in orléans , tours , angers , pouzauges , and champtocé - sur - loire denouncing gilles as a spendthrift and forbidding him from selling any further property . no subject of charles vii was allowed to enter into any contract with him , and those in command of his castles were forbidden to dispose of them . gilles ' credit fell immediately and his creditors pressed upon him . he borrowed heavily , using his objets d ' art , manuscripts , books and clothing as security . when he left orléans in late august or early september 1435 , the town was littered with precious objects he was forced to leave behind . the edict did not apply to brittany , and the family was unable to persuade the duke of brittany to enforce it . [ 24 ]
the race roll of honour is a pantheon of the thoroughbred greats stretching back to 1809 when the race first took place and was named after its original prize fund . the first renewal was won by a horse called wizard and the race’s magic quickly caught on ; by the mid - 1860’s the 2 , 000 guineas was considered britain’s premier race for the classic generation with other countries introducing their own versions of the race .
nijinsky appeared to recover fully after being placed on a
rich
diet including raw eggs and irish stout , [ 16 ] and was sent to doncaster for the st . leger in september . in the one mile and six furlongs race , he was attempting to become the first horse since bahram 35 years earlier to complete the english triple crown . he started the 2 / 7 favourite and won comfortably , [ 17 ] although his margin of victory over meadowville was only one length . as of 2017 , he is the last horse to accomplish the feat of sweeping the english triple crown : since 1970 only reference point ( 1987 ) , nashwan ( 1989 ) , sea the stars ( 2009 ) and camelot ( 2012 ) have won two of the three races , but oh so sharp won the filly ' s version of the triple crown in 1985 .
several years after gilles ' death , his daughter marie had a stone memorial erected at the site of his execution . over the years , the structure came to be regarded as a holy altar under the protection of saint anne . generations of pregnant women flocked there to pray for an abundance of breast milk . the memorial was destroyed by rioting jacobins during the french revolution in the late 18th century .
1980 brought controversy as the brilliant unbeaten colt nureyev barged his way through to finish first past the post before becoming the only horse in the race’s history to be disqualified . he had almost brought pat eddery and posse down and that colt stayed on strongly to finish a close - up third . meanwhile on the stands rail , known fact and willie carson were out of trouble and finished second past the post , only to be awarded the race on the french trained colt’s demotion .
nashwan ' s next task was to prove himself against older opposition , starting with the eclipse stakes over one and a quarter miles at sandown park on 8 july . despite having recently recovered from a foot infection and facing both the outstanding racemare indian skimmer and the champion miler warning , he was sent off the 2 / 5 favourite . [ 10 ] nashwan took the lead approaching the final furlong and won by five lengths from the outsider opening verse , who later won the breeders ' cup mile . [ 11 ] two weeks later , nashwan contested britain ' s most prestigious all - aged race , the king george vi and queen elizabeth stakes over one and a half miles at ascot . with the late withdrawal of prix du jockey club winner old vic , nashwan was expected to win easily and started as 2 / 9 favourite . this time he had to fight for his victory , with old rival cacoethes challenging him throughout the final two furlongs . nashwan was driven out by carson to win by a neck , with the subsequent prix de l ' arc de triomphe winner carroll house a further eleven lengths back in fifth . [ 12 ] his narrow margin of victory lead some critics to question his status as a
super - horse
. [ 13 ]
the following year another of the great horses of the last half century claimed the guineas as dancing brave powerfully careered out of the dip to defeat champion sprinter green desert before suffering a narrow defeat in the epsom derby . by season’s end dancing brave was heralded as the champion colt of 1986 following victories in the eclipse stakes , king george vi and queen elizabeth diamond stakes and arc de triomphe .
nijinsky , a bay horse with a white star and three white feet , was bred at e . p . taylor ' s windfields farm in oshawa , ontario , canada . he was from the second crop of foals sired by northern dancer , the winner of the 1964 kentucky derby who went on to become one of the most influential sires of the 20th century . his dam , flaming page , by bull page , was a highly successful racemare , winning the 1962 queen ' s plate . at stud , she produced only two other foals ; one of these was fleur , who produced the 1977 epsom derby winner the minstrel , the other was minsky , champion irish 2 year old in 1970 . [ 3 ] nijinsky was a big , powerful and handsome horse with great presence standing 16 . 3 hands ( 67 inches , 170 cm ) high , resembling his dam rather than his sire in stature and conformation , traits he tended to pass on to his offspring . [ 4 ]
as no demon manifested after three tries , the marshal grew frustrated with the lack of results . prelati responded that the demon barron was angry and required the offering of parts of a child . de rais provided these remnants in a glass vessel at a future invocation . all of this was to no avail , and the occult experiments left him bitter and with his wealth severely depleted . [ 25 ]
in his own confession , gilles testified that “when the said children were dead , he kissed them and those who had the most handsome limbs and heads he held up to admire them , and had their bodies cruelly cut open and took delight at the sight of their inner organs ; and very often when the children were dying he sat on their stomachs and took pleasure in seeing them die and laughed” . [ 30 ]
on 15 may 1440 , rais kidnapped a cleric during a dispute at the church of saint - étienne - de - mer - morte . [ 32 ] [ 33 ] the act prompted an investigation by the bishop of nantes , during which evidence of gilles ' crimes was uncovered . [ 32 ] on 29 july , the bishop released his findings , [ 34 ] and subsequently obtained the prosecutorial cooperation of rais ' s former protector , jean vi , the duke of brittany . rais and his bodyservants poitou and henriet were arrested on 15 september 1440 , [ 35 ] [ 36 ] following a secular investigation which paralleled the findings of the investigation from the bishop of nantes . rais ' s prosecution would likewise be conducted by both secular and ecclesiastical courts , on charges which included murder , sodomy , and heresy . [ 37 ]
the 1971 guineas saw the re - match of europe’s top two juveniles of 1970 as the prolific colt my swallow took on the little horse he had beaten as part of his unbeaten run of seven victories that year : mill reef . my swallow extended that run to eight on his seasonal bow in 1971 while mill reef proved an outstanding two year old winning the gimcrack stakes by 10 lengths and the dewhurst stakes by 4 lengths . mill reef sauntered to victory in the greenham stakes and was then race - fit for newmarket .
nijinsky ( 21 february 1967 – 15 april 1992 ) , usually known in the united states as nijinsky ii , was a canadian - bred , irish - trained thoroughbred racehorse and sire . he was the outstanding two - year - old in europe in 1969 when he was unbeaten in five races . in the following season , he became the first horse for thirty - five years to win the english triple crown . he is regarded by many experts to have been the greatest flat racehorse in europe during the 20th century [ 1 ] .
our babu was a bay horse with a white star and snip and distinctive
lop
ears [ 2 ] [ 3 ] bred in ireland by sir oliver lambart . he was sired by the champion two - year - old and 2000 guineas winner my babu out of the mare glen line who showed no ability as a racehorse but was a highly successful broodmare producing the eclipse stakes winner king of the tudors . as a descendant of the mare sunbridge , she was a member of the same thoroughbred family as windsor lad . [ 4 ]
in his next race , nijinsky was sent to france for the prix de l ' arc de triomphe at longchamp in paris in october . piggott produced nijinsky in the straight to make his challenge but was baulked twice before making his run on the wide outside . however , 150m from the finish he caught front runners miss dan and sassafras and took a slight lead . in the last strides , nijinsky appeared to veer left away from piggott ' s whip , [ 18 ] and sassafras , ridden by yves saint - martin , produced a renewed effort to regain the advantage and win by a head . while many , including his trainer vincent o ' brien , felt that piggott had given nijinsky too much ground to make up and had left his challenge too late , [ 19 ] the jockey said that in his opinion nijinsky was past his peak for the year . [ 20 ]
nashwan ' s owner decided not to attempt the triple crown in the st leger stakes , and the colt was instead aimed at the prix de l ' arc de triomphe at longchamp in october . to prepare for this race , he was sent to the prix niel over the arc course and distance on 17 september . racing on soft ground , nashwan moved up to challenge in the straight but made no further progress and finished third , beaten one and a half lengths and half a length by the french - trained colts golden pheasant and french glory . [ 14 ] neither hern nor carson could offer any explanation for the
lifeless
performance with the jockey commenting that the 1 / 5 favourite
didn ' t have any energy
. [ 15 ] nashwan missed the arc , and , as had been announced in summer , he was retired from racing at the end of the year . [ 13 ]
in 1425 , rais was introduced to the court of charles vii at saumur and learned courtly manners by studying the dauphin . [ 12 ] in combat at saint - lô and le mans between 1427 and 1429 , gilles was allowed to indulge his taste for violence and carnage . [ 13 ] at the battle for the château of lude , he climbed the assault ladder and slew the english captain blackburn . [ 14 ] he was young , handsome and rich with companions - in - arms of his own stripe about him . [ 15 ]
in 1434 / 5 , rais gradually withdrew from military and public life in order to pursue his own interests : the construction of a splendid chapel of the holy innocents ( where he officiated in robes of his own design ) , [ 22 ] and the production of a theatrical spectacle called le mistère du siège d ' orléans . the play consisted of more than 20 , 000 lines of verse , requiring 140 speaking parts and 500 extras . gilles was almost bankrupt at the time of the production and began selling property as early as 1432 to support his extravagant lifestyle . by march 1433 , he had sold all his estates in poitou ( except those of his wife ) and all his property in maine . only two castles in anjou , champtocé - sur - loire and ingrandes , remained in his possession . half of the total sales and mortgages were spent on the production of his play . the spectacle was first performed in orléans on 8 may 1435 . six hundred costumes were constructed , worn once , discarded , and constructed afresh for subsequent performances . unlimited supplies of food and drink were made available to spectators at gilles ' expense . [ 23 ]
part of the attraction of the 2 , 000 guineas is the mixture of different horse types it attracts . it is often the first major target of the season for horses likely to tackle longer middle distance races later in the year , but perhaps have sufficient speed for a mile . then there are the specialist milers , who in theory ought to be in their element at this distance . there are also sprinters , who are tried over the rowley mile in the hope that they might just last out the distance . then there are the champion two year olds from the season before , attempting to prove that they have developed over the winter and still retain their position at the head of their generation .
less than two weeks after his defeat in the arc , nijinsky ran his last race in the champion stakes over ten furlongs at newmarket . although he had been known to sweat freely before some of his previous races , nijinsky on this occasion appeared to become particularly nervous and anxious before the start . in the race itself , he ran well below his best form and was beaten 3 / 4 length at odds of 4 / 11 by the five - year - old english horse lorenzaccio . [ 21 ] o ' brien on this occasion concurred with piggott , saying that nijinsky appeared to have
lost his fire .
[ 20 ] nijinsky was retired to stand at stud at claiborne farm near paris , kentucky having been syndicated in august for $ 5 , 440 , 000 . [ 22 ]
nashwan was a large , powerfully built chestnut horse with a white star and a white sock on his right foreleg bred by his owner hamdan al maktoum at his shadwell farm in lexington , kentucky . he was sired by the 1977 poule d ' essai des poulains winner blushing groom . blushing groom became an exceptionally successful breeding stallion , siring rainbow quest , blushing john , arazi , and many other leading horses . nashwan ' s successes made him the leading sire in great britain & ireland in 1989 . [ 1 ] nashwan ' s dam was height of fashion , a daughter of bustino previously owned by queen elizabeth ii . he was thus a half - brother to the group race winners alwasmi , unfuwain , and nayef , and a close relative of the japanese champion deep impact and the 1000 guineas winner ghanaati . [ 2 ]
nijinsky ' s first four races were all at the curragh . in june , he started at odds of 4 / 11 and won a six - furlong maiden race by half a length . he followed up with wins in the anglesey stakes and the railway stakes . on his fourth appearance , he was extended for the first time in the beresford stakes . he won decisively from decies , a colt who went on to win the irish 2000 guineas in 1970 . having proved himself the best of the irish two - year - olds , he was sent to england in october to contest the dewhurst stakes at newmarket . ridden for the first time by lester piggott , he was held up at the back of the six - horse field before moving through to take the lead inside the final furlong , earning top rating in the british free handicap . [ 6 ] [ 7 ]
a month later , nashwan was moved up in distance for the ever ready derby over one and a half miles at epsom downs racecourse . despite the unseasonably cold , damp weather , the race attracted an estimated 500 , 000 spectators including queen elizabeth ii . [ 7 ] nashwan started 5 / 4 favourite against eleven opponents , with the biggest danger expected to come from cacoethes , winner of the lingfield derby trial . carson positioned the favourite just behind the leaders before moving up to take the lead from cacoethes in the straight . he pulled
effortlessly
[ 8 ] clear in the closing stages to win by five lengths from the 500 / 1 outsider terimon , who finished well to deprive cacoethes of second . [ 9 ] he was the first horse to complete the guineas - derby double since nijinsky ii in 1970 , [ 8 ] though he was emulated by sea the stars in 2009 and camelot in 2012 .
nimbus was a bay horse with a white star and snip and white socks on his hind feet . [ 2 ] he was bred by william hill who would go on to win the st . leger stakes in 1959 with cantelo . he was sired by nearco , one of the most important sires of the 20th century . his dam , kong , was sprinter whose victories included the wokingham stakes at royal ascot . in addition to nimbus , kong also produced nimbus ' s three - quarter brother grey sovereign ( sired by nearco ' s son nasrullah ) who won the richmond stakes and became a successful breeding stallion . [ 3 ] as a yearling , nimbus was sent to the sales where he was bought for 5000 guineas by the trainer george colling , acting on behalf of henry glenister . the colt was trained by colling at his hurworth house stable in newmarket , suffolk and raced in the colours of glenister ' s wife , marion . [ 4 ]
on 27 june , nijinsky followed up his epsom win by taking the irish derby at the curragh . ridden by liam ward , he started at odds of 4 / 11 and accelerated late to win by three lengths from meadowville . [ 13 ] in july , nijinsky raced against older horses for the first time in the king george vi and queen elizabeth stakes at ascot . his five opponents included winners of major races including blakeney ( 1969 epsom derby ) , karabas ( washington , d . c . international stakes ) , crepellana ( prix de diane ) , and caliban ( coronation cup ) . without being extended , nijinsky moved through to take the lead a furlong from the finish and won by two lengths from blakeney despite being eased down to a canter in the closing stages . [ 14 ]
among contemporary thoroughbreds attributed by stud book record to family 5 three different mitochondrial dna haplotypes have been found , representing no fewer than three separate founder mares . one of these haplotypes is found in 5g and 5h , another in 5d and 5e , and the third in an unspecified part of the ' trunk ' of family 5 . see deep - rooted anomalies and equine genetic genealogy .
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd xhtml 1 . 0 transitional / / en
urltoken
helen johnson houghton had begun training on her own account after her husband , major gordon johnson houghton , had been killed in a hunting accident in 1952 . in those days , however , the licence had to be in the name of a male trainer — it was not until 1966 that the jockey club recognised women trainers after it had been taken to court by the redoubtable florence nagle .
in an interview with the racing post in 2010 , helen johnson houghton recalled how she had felt about the lack of public recognition after she had won the guineas : “bloody maddening . it seems so ridiculous in this day and age , doesn’t it ? beyond belief . but that’s all in the past , and i no longer agonise over it . ”
the twin sister of fulke walwyn , who become one of the great national hunt trainers of his time , she was born helen marjorie walwyn on november 8 1910 at abergavenny . her father was an army officer and master of the monmouth hounds . when the twins were young , their mother died , and they were looked after by a succession of governesses . helen , who never went to school , was in her early teens when her father married one of these governesses , and , disapproving of the match , she left home and went to live with an aunt in cheshire .


morpheis pyracmon , the fissured bark , is a moth in the cossidae family .

it was described by cramer in 1780 .

it is found in surinam , venezuela , ecuador and peru .

the habitat consists of cloudforests , where it is found at altitudes between 400 and 1,200 meters .

morpheis pyracmon

have a fact about morpheis pyracmon ? write it here to share it with the entire community .
have a definition for morpheis pyracmon ? write it here to share it with the entire community .
morpheis ( gallerianae ) ; hampson , 1917 , novit . zool . 24 : 56
morpheis clenchi donahue , 1980 ; j . lep . soc . 34 ( 2 ) : ( 173 - 181 ) ; tl : s . arizona
there are 12 species in the genus morpheis , distributed variously from arizona to peru . the moths are remarkably disguised as pieces of tree bark . most species have a reticulated black pattern on a white or pale brown ground colour . several including pyracmon , clenchi , mathani and xylotribus also have a conspicuous black streak across the forewings , resembling a fissure in bark . this however is paler and less prominent in ramona , and entirely absent in strigifer .
all photographs , artwork , text & website design are the property of adrian hoskins ( unless otherwise stated ) and are protected by copyright . photographs or text on this website must not be reproduced in part or in whole or published elsewhere without prior written consent of adrian hoskins / urltoken
you can copy this taxon into another guide . if you are one of the editors of this guide it should copy everything , but if you ' re not , it will only copy the licensed content .
zeuzera cognata walker , 1856 ; list spec . lepid . insects colln br . mus . 7 : 1532 ; tl : honduras
zeuzera cognata ; godman & salvin , 1887 , biol . centr . - amer . , lep . heterocera 1 : 231 , 3 pl . 24 , f . 6
zeuzera fracta walker , 1856 ; list spec . lepid . insects colln br . mus . 7 : 1542
[ maps ] warning ! the maps are automatically generated from the textual information , and the process does not always produce acceptable result ; see about maps for more info .
biologia centrali - americana ; or contributions to the knowledge of the fauna of mexico and central america . zoology . lepidoptera . heterocera
walker , 1856 list of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the british museum list spec . lepid . insects colln br . mus . 1 : 1 - 278 ( 1854 ) , 2 : 279 - 581 ( 1854 ) , 3 : 583 - 775 ( 1855 ) , 4 : 777 - 976 ( 1855 ) , 5 : 977 - 1258 ( 1855 ) , 6 : 1259 - 1508 ( 1855 ) , 7 : 1509 - 1808 ( 1856 )
if you have corrections , comments or information to add into these pages , just send mail to markku savela keep in mind that the taxonomic information is copied from various sources , and may include many inaccuracies . expert help is welcome .
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd html 4 . 01 transitional / / en
urltoken
[ 85 ] urltoken ( insecta . pro previous version / cтарая версия insecta . pro )
note : you should have a urltoken account to upload new topics and comments . please , create an account or log in to add comments
* our website is multilingual . some comments have been translated from other languages .
curators : konstantin efetov , vasiliy feoktistov , svyatoslav knyazev , evgeny komarov , stan korb , alexander zhakov .
species catalog enables to sort by characteristics such as expansion , flight time , etc . .
80x5 - 240x3 - 240x4 - 320x1 - 320x2 - 320x3 - 640x1 - 640x2 set display option above . click on images to enlarge .
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd html 3 . 2 / / en
method of identification : adult illustrated by seitz ( 1925 ) plate 181 fig . c2 .
sign in to disable all ads . thank you for helping build the largest language community on the internet .
have a better pronunciation ? upload it here to share it with the entire community .
simply select a language and press on the speaker button to listen to the pronunciation of the word . leave a vote for your preferred pronunciation .