280 THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 



are small, but larger at its sides. In the lower jaw those in the centre of equal size to the teeth 

 in the upper, but smaller externally. 



Puis The external angles of the ventrals are acute, the internal obtuse. Tail three or four 



times the length of the body, with a broad serrated spine varying from one-fifth to one-eighth of 

 its length, and situated slightly behind its anterior third : the membraneous fin is high, and begins 

 beneath the base of the spine and is continued beyond the middle third of its lower margin. 



Scales Upper surface of the head and body covered by thick concave or flat headed, several 



sided scales, the slightly raised edges of which are rough. In the scapular region and central hue 

 of the back are two in the young and three in the adult, of large, smooth, approximating scales, 

 the middle and largest of which is usually oval, the second in size posterior and heart-shaped, 

 the anterior or smallest round or heart-shaped. 



Colours — The upper surface of the immature is reddish brown, but in the adult lead-coloured, 

 becoming black in the posterior two-thirds of the tail. 



This fish grows to a large size, when it is coarse eating. It is most common during the S.W. 

 monsoon. From the skin of its back some of the true " Shagreen" of commerce is prepared. 

 Wounds inflicted by the spine of its tail are considered dangerous. 



Habitat — Seas of India and Malaysia. 



Group MYLIOBATIDES, Dumeril. 



Genus ^ETOBATIS, (Blainville), Mull. & Henle. 



Snout pointed, composed by the united anterior pectoral rays. Nasal valves united with a straight 

 margin. Mouth transverse. Both jaws with a straight margin. Teeth hexagonal, in the centre a series 

 of broader ones, posteriorly increasing in breadth ; on either side smaller tetragonal plates resembling 

 paving stones, and fitting into the zig-zags of the central teeth ; those in the upper jaw longitudinally and 

 transversely convex : those of the lower flat or very slightly concave : the teeth of neither jaw occupy the 

 entire breadth. 



iETOBATIS NAKINAEI. 



Rajah narinaei, Bl. Schn. 361. 



Eel-tenkee, Russell, pi. 8. 



Myliobatis macroptera, McClelland, Cal. J. N. H. i. p. GO, f. 1, a. b. 



Stoasodon narinari, Cantor, Catal. p. 434. 



iETOBATis narinari, Gray, Catal. Brit. Mus. p. 130 ; Dumeril, Teh. g£n. i. p. 641. 



Therrundee, Mai. 



The comparative sizes vary greatly with age. The distance from the mouth to the anus 

 equals about half the width of the disk. The snout is conical, slightly broader at its base than it 

 is long : the lower jaw is acute and longer than the upper which has a straight margin. The nasal 

 valve is half the length of the snout, with a broad and conical lobule having a fringed edge near 

 to its external margin. 



Teeth — The dental plates of both jaws do not extend the whole distance across : they form a 



