Shagreen ray Shagreen ray The shagreen ray or shagreen skate or fuller's ray ("Leucoraja fullonica") is a species of skate in the family Rajidae. This ray is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, from Murmansk, Russia through Norway, southern Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Celtic Sea, the northern North Sea and Skagerrak, to northern Morocco, including (infrequently) the western Mediterranean Sea and the Madeira Islands. It is absent from the shallow waters off England and Wales. Shagreen is a form of roughened untanned leather, typically dyed green and commonly made of the skins of sharks and rays. The common name "fuller's ray"
Alfred Ehrenreich placoid scales, or dermal denticles; leather made with these scales still attached is referred to as Shagreen. However, Ehrenreich had to find a way to remove these scales from the hides in order for his product to reach a wider market. Initially he tried a process patented by a Danish chemist called Kristian Bendixon. Later the company switched to a system that involved the hides being treated by acid. Two chemists came up with similar ideas, Theodore H. Kohler and Dr Allen Rogers. Once treated in this way the skin could be split into layers, to both increase the yield