312 Papers from the Marine Biological Laboratory at Tortugas. 



Aetobatus flagellum. 



This ray is the second of the two definitely established species. Under 

 the name Raja flagellum, it was first described and figured by Bloch and 

 Schneider (1801). They give the characters as follows: Body width equals 

 twice the length, head and pectoral fins pointed, dorsal fin short, one or 

 two spines serrated on both sides at the base of the whip-lash-like tail, which 

 is four times longer than the body. Habitat: Indian Sea on the coast of 

 Coromandel. A photographic copy of their colored drawing is given as 

 figure 24, plate x. This unfortunately does not show the parallel striations 

 running from front to back across the pectoral fins. It must be noted that 

 in their diagnosis of the characters they say nothing of the teeth, but in the 

 smaller figure, showing the under parts of the head, the projecting lower jaw 

 with its rounded tooth leaves no doubt as to these structures.^ 



Blainville (18 16) after giving the characters of the genus Aetobatus (see 

 page 307) enumerates flagellum as one of the species under this genus. 



Miiller and Henle (1841), after examining 21 specimens from India and 

 the Red Sea, established the form A etobatis flagellum, giving as a synonym 

 Raja flagellum Bloch and Schneider. Among its distinctive characters are: 

 Snout wide at base, small, and only about three times as long as the nasal 

 lobes ; teeth sharply rounded ; no spots ; disk above dark violet or bronzy or 

 coppery, white below. Richardson (1846) lists this ray in his "Fishes of 

 China and Japan," but does nothing more than refer to Miiller and Henle 

 and to Bloch and Schneider. Likewise Blyth (1861) contents himself with 

 recording it in his "Cartilaginous Fishes of Lower Bengal," but gives no 

 information whatever about it.^ 



The next reference to A. flagellum, which has been chanced upon is 

 from A. Dumeril (1865). In this paper is a fine plate showing the head 

 of what he calls A. fottet (A. flagellum Miiller and Henle). This elegant 

 plate is reproduced as figure 8, plate iv, of this paper, and C is the head 

 referred to. Attention is called to the extremely long head and snout, 

 the latter being very slender and narrow, to the lateral eyes, to the spiracles 

 with their backwardly prolonged depressions, and to the complete absence 

 of spots. It is greatly to be regretted that Dumeril gives us no data as to 

 the fish from which the figure was made. 



Earlier in this paper (page 309) it has been noted that Gunther (1870) 

 makes R. flagellum Bloch and Schneider a synonym of A. narinari. This is 

 a palpable error which curiously enough has been repeated by Jordan and 

 Evermann (1896), who probably copied Gunther. The facts are as follows: 

 On page 361 of Bloch and Schneider (1801), under genus Raja, No. 10 is 

 R. flagellum; lower on the same page, No. 11 \s R. narinari. 



' In his' ' Analecten fur Vergleichende Anatomic," sammlung I, published at Bonn in 1835, A. F. J. C. 

 Mayer describes Raja fasciaia Mas." This ray was 6 inches long with a 3S-inch tail. Of it he says: " Both 

 the upper and the lower jaw is each overlaid with a tooth-plate consisting of about seven horse-shoe shaped 

 lamellae. . . . The side fins are striped and are cut in a half-moon shape." This might lead one to think 

 that he had an eagle ray like Bloch and Schneider's Raja flagellum, but he says further, "' Head square 

 (viereckig)." 



' Agassiz's (1859) attempt to rename this ray Goniobatis flagellum has been previously referred to. 



