The Spotted Eagle Ray. 



253 



nari, C (lower right corner) is A.fouet, {A.flagellum?). One observes at 

 once the larger spots oi A. latirostris, and the fact that they are few in the 

 cephalic region and rather widely scattered over the other parts of the body, 

 while in A. narinari they are much smaller, thickly scattered, so much so 

 on the head as to appear concentrated. Worthy of note is the fact that 

 the congeneric form A . fonet is entirely devoid of spots. These differences 

 will be discussed further in the section dealing with the species. 



In 1865, Day in his "Fishes of Malabar" and Dumeril in his "Histoire 

 Naturelle des Poissons" both described Aetohatis narinari, but as the dis- 

 tinctive points in their description have to do with the color and with the 

 structure of the jaws, both of which subjects will be discussed fully later, 

 and as neither published plates, further attention will not be given them here. 



In the eighth volume of his " Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum," 

 Giinther (1870) gives a description of Aetohatis narinari, which, since it is 

 based on a careful examination of no less than ten specimens (mainly from 

 oriental waters), is possibly the most authoritative we have had since 

 Miiller and Henle. In general he agrees with the writers cited above, but 

 gives some interesting variations in color and teeth which will be considered 

 at some length later. 



Klunzinger (1871) gives a very careful and exact description of Aetohatis 

 narinari from the Red Sea. This does not differ materially from Ruppell's 

 earlier account (1835), but goes into much greater detail. It is interesting 

 to note that both writers record the fact that the spiracle is broader than 

 long; Ruppell says that it is pear-shaped. The points of chief interest in 

 Klunzinger's description have to do with teeth, tail and spine, and color, all 

 of which will be dealt with later in their appropriate sections. 



Day (1878), in his "Fishes of India," gives a description of Aetohatis 

 fiarinari based evidently upon a number of specimens from Indian waters. 

 These, however, were probably pre- 

 served specimens, since he speaks 

 of the tail as triangular as far as 

 the spine and compressed beyond 

 that, structures much plainer in 

 preserved than in fresh specimens. 

 His figure was certainly made from 

 a preserved fish, since it is much 

 shrunken in the head region. The 

 spine is disproportionally large and 

 the dorsum is entirely devoid of 

 spots despite the fact that in his 

 description the body is noted as 

 covered behind the head with dirty 

 white or bluish spots. This fig- 

 ure is hardly to be recognized as A. narinari and it has not seemed neces- 

 sary to reproduce it here. 



Text-fig. 2. A. 71a r i nar i, aher Gunther, 1880. 



