RHINOBATUS HALAVI. 275 



dorsal. Caudal small. Tubercles in the dorsal series small, hardly perceptible 

 on the shoulders or around the orbits. 



Brown, with numerous small spots and rings of darker brown scattered 

 over the back; dorsals and caudal darker. Lower surfaces whitish tinted with 

 olive. 



Specimen described, about nineteen inches in length, from China. 



RHINOBATUS HALAVI. 



Rata halai<i Forskal, 1755, Descript. Anim., p. 19. 



Rhinobatus halavi Ruppell, 1828, Atlas fische, p. 55, pi. 14, f. 2; Muller & Henle, 1841, Plagios., 



p. 120; Guichenot, 1850, Expl. Alg., p. 129; Dumeril, 1865, Elasm., p. 496; Gunth., 1870, 



Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 8, p. 442; Klunzinger, 1871, Syn. fische, 2, p. 675; Day, 1878, Ind. 



fishes, pi. 193, f. 4; Annandale, 1909, Mem. Ind. mus., 2, p. 13. 

 Rhinobatus armalus Gray & Hardwicke, 1834, 111. Ind. zool., 2, pi. 99; Muller & Henle, 1841, Plagios., 



p. 119; Bleeker, 1852, Verh. Bat. gen., 24, Plagios., p. 60; Nat. tijds. Ned.Ind., 3, p. 85; Dumeril, 



1865, Elasm., p. 494; Gunth., 1910, Siidsee fische, 3, p. 492. 

 Rhinobatus obtusus Muller & Henle, 1841, Plagios., p. 122, pi. 37, p. 2; Blyth, 1860, Journ. Asiat. 



soc. Bengal, 29, p. 37; Dumeril, 1865, Elasm., p. 493; Gunth., 1870, Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 8, 



p. 443. 

 Rhinobatus granulatus Gunth., 1870, Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 8, p. 443 (part). 



Width of disk four fifths of its length, angle at the snout from opposite the 

 eyes 57°. Tail from the bases of the ventrals one half of the total length. Snout 

 from mouth one half the length of the disk, nearly three times the width of the 

 mouth; tip moderately broad, regularly rounded. Rostral cartilage slender, 

 widening in the anterior two thirds of its length; ridges narrowly separated at 

 the fontanel, closely approximated in mid length; groove distinct anteriorly. 

 Nostrils wide, width six sevenths of that of the mouth, twice that of their dis- 

 tance apart, two sevenths of the length of the snout. Anterior nasal valve 

 feebly developed, a narrow edging on the outward three fourths of the nostril, 

 its lobe narrow and small and its inner section, reaching halfway from the lobe 

 to the inner edge of the nostril, turns slightly forward at the end. Posterior 

 valve much better developed in the outer section and the lobe, which latter is 

 much larger than that of the anterior valve ; inner section not reaching half way 

 to the inner edge of the nostril. Mouth nearly straight. Spiracles nearly 

 as large as the eye, with a single low fold. Dorsals equal, base of the first equal 

 two fifths of its distance from the ventrals, or one half its distance from the 

 second, upper angle rather long and sharp, hinder margins concave. Caudal 

 narrow, pointed. 



Yellowish grey or brown, white or yellowish at each side of the rostral 

 cartilage; pectorals and ventrals lighter, sides of tail and edges of lower fins 

 edged with white. Lower surfaces white; a brownish spot below end of snout. 



