THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 



229 



Family 6. RAJIDjE. The Raj n< Skates. 



7. Raja binoculata Girard. Big Ca iforn Skat 



Common. The collection contains the following specimens: No 2896, a male 10 inches long, from 

 station 4248, in Eastern Passage near Wrangell; no. 2748. a small male seined at Kl -week; no. 2837; no. 

 jv;'i : i female; „u. 2841. a female 21 inches long, from Puget Sound near Port Townsend; no. 2871, 

 a female; six specimens 6 to 13 inches long collected in Puget Sound by Mr. Todd; one l bo. 1272) 15.5 

 inches long dredged by the Albatross August 28, 1891, at station 3450, off Washington. Other speci- 

 mens were dredged a1 stations l_'l 1. 121 !. 1219, 4233, 4192, and in Kilistit Barbor; examples were 

 also at Port Towns-end. Nanaimo, Karta Bay, Yes Bay, and Dundas Bay. Two very large examples 

 were examined at a salmon trap. Both were females, on whic h the following □ iti 



i . .i -i t length inches 



Length of disk do.. 



iVidth of disk do 



Tip of snout to aiiplo of pectoral do 



Tip of pectoral to base of tail do 



Weight pen 



Mr. Bell, superintendent of the Dundas Bay cannery, says cays are often taken in the salmon 

 traps, some much larger than these. 



At Kilisnt Harbor, July I. two egg capsules were dredged. One was empty, but the other 

 contained I eggs, each about the size of a hen's egg. The attached embryos were long (each about 

 :{ inches), -lender- and very squirmy. 



No. 2896 is described as follows: Length of disk 1.4 in width; tail 1.3 in length of disk; anterior edge 



of pectoral scarcely less than length of disk, one-half greater than posterior edge; snout 3 in length of 

 disk; interorbital width 2.5 in snout; width of mouth equalling interorbital width; disk much broader 

 than long; anterior margin of pectoral m arlj Straight, scarcely or not al all convex, the 2 margins form- 

 ing an angle of 95 to 98 degrees; tip of snout not produced, nor differentiated from genera] outline; 

 posterior margin of pectoral gentl) convex, forming an angle of . 1 1 .. . 1 1 1 90 degrees with the anterior 

 margin. Three sharp spines about the eye. 2 in front, the third above and posterior; one strong spine on 

 median lineof back, midway I >et ween nostrilsand humeral region; tail with a seriesof II Btout prickles 

 beginning at base and extending to first dorsal fin; one small spine between the 2 dorsals; upper part 

 otherwise entirely smooth and without prickles of any kind; under parts entirely smooth. 



Color light brown; a large black spot equal to twice lougesi diameter of eye- at base of pectoral, 

 surrounded bya broad ring of reddish brown, which in turn is surrounded by a nearly equally broad 

 black ring; the total diameter of the ocellated spot slightly exceeding the inter-spiracle width; an 

 obscure brownish spot behind the large ocellated spot Blightly greater than eye in diameter; back 

 profusely covered with small irregularly placed paler spots, those on posterior margin of pectoral oblong. 



From typical R. binoculata this specimen differs in the less projecting snout, the coloration, and the 

 spines. The large spot at the base of the pectoral is that of R. stellulata, but the prickles are less evident. 



An examination of our material shows that the males differ from the femah- in having the snout 

 blunter and hss produced and the pectoral ocellus much larger and more distinct. It is also evident 

 that the prickles become more numerous with age. As these variations cover all the differences in 

 characters assigned to the 3 nominal species R. binoculata Girard, /.\ rhina Jordan & Gilbert, and /,'. stellu- 

 lata Jordan & Gilbert, we are compelled to regard the three as one species. We have compared our 

 specimens with the types of R. rhina and R. stellulata. 



Recorded by Bean (1882 1, as Raja binoculata, from the following localities: Sitka; Port Althorp; 

 St. Paul, Kodiak Island; and Wrangell. By Gilbert (1895) as Raja stellulata, from Unimak Pass, 

 Bristol Bay, and along the northern shores of Ohalaska Island at stations 3217, 3255, 3258, 3310, and 3312. 



Raja binoculata Girard, Proc. A.C. Nat. Sri. Phila. ls.,4, 196, San Francisco. 



Raja COOperi Girard, Fac. R. R. .Surv.. :>72, IS'iS. Shoalwater Bay, Washington. 



Raja stellulata Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. 0. s. Nat. Xtus. 18.S0, 133, Monterey. 



Raja rh ina Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. V. S. Nat. Mus. 1SS0, 251, Monterey and San Francisco. 



