742 PLAGIOSTOilATA— BATOIDEI. 



Family, VI— MYLIOBATID^. 



Pectoral fins large, developed along the sides of the body occasioning the latter to appear very broad : 

 these fins are not present on the sides of the head, but re-appear at the end of the snout as a pair of 

 detached fins. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



A. — TeetJt large, flattened, tessellated. 



1. Mtjliohatis. Fins on head meet in the form of a soft appendage in front of snout. Teeth in several 

 scries, the middle ones being the broadest, p. 742. 



2. JEtohatis. With only one series of very broad teeth, p. 743. 



3. Bhinoptera. Fins on either side of snout form a lobe, p. 743. 



B. — Teeth small : cephalic fins forming an ajipendage on either side of snout. 



4. Dicerohatis. Teeth in both jaws, p. 744. 



5. Geratoptera. Teeth only in the lower jaw, p. 745. 



A. — Teeth large, flattened, tessellated. 

 Genus, 1 — Mtliobatis, Cuvier. 



Head distinct from disk : snout ivith a soft prolongation, internally supported by fin rays : nasal valves 

 coalescent, forming a quadrangular flap. Teeth hexagonal, flat, the central ones leing broader than long : the 

 external roivs narrow. Tail very long and whip-like, having a dorsal fin near its base, and usually a serrated spine 

 posterior to it. Body smooth or tuherculated superiorly. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical and temperate seas. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES. 



1. Myliobatus Nieuhofii. Body smooth. No caudal spine. The young with five blue cross-bands on 

 the upper surface, but which disappear with age. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago, and Japan. 



2. Myliobatis macuJata. A row of small tubercles in the median line of the scapular region. No 

 caudal spine. Ocelli with brown margins in posterior half of the upper surface of disk. 



1. Myliobatis Nieuhofii. 



Uaja Nieuhofii, Bl. Schn. p. 364. 



Baja, Russell, Fish. Vizag. i, p. 6, and Mookarah tenkee, pi. vii. 



Bajafasciata, Shaw, General Zool. v. 2, p. 286, pi. csUii. 



Myliobatis Nieuhofii, Cuv. Regn. Anim. ; Miili. and Henle, Plagiost. p. 177 ; Richards. leh. China, 

 p. 198 ; Cantor, Catal. "^Mal. Fish. p. 432 ; Bleeker, Plagiost. p. 85, and Beng. p. 82 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. & Sc. 

 1851, p. 149 ; Kner, Novar. Fische, p. 421 ; Dumferil, Hist. Nat. Poiss. i, p. 638 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 491. 



Tuppa koollee or Chuppa tirike, Tamil. 



Disk about twice as broad as long : tail about three times as long as disk. Fleshy prolongation of 

 snout short ; no horn on orbit. Body smooth. Fins — dorsal situated at commencement of base of tail, 

 opposite the end of the insertion of the ventrals : no spines posterior to it. Colours — olive superiorly, tinged 

 externally with a reddish hue and a dark outer margin to the disk. The young have about seven blue bands 

 across the disk and two more between or close to the eyes. As the fish increases in size, first the bands on the 

 head disappear and finally those on the body. 



Habitat.— Sea.3 of India to the Malay Archipelago and Japan. Two good illustrations of this species, 

 from Madras, exist amongst Sir Walter Elliot's drawings. 



2. Myliobatis maeulata. 



Gray and Hardw. Illust. Indian, Zool. ; Miiller and Henle, Plagios. p. 178 ; Bleeker, Plagios. p. 84, and 

 Beng. p. 82 ; Richards. Ich. China, p. 198 ; Gray, Catal. Chond. Fish. p. 129 ; Dumeril, Hist. Nat. Poiss. i, 

 p. 639 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 49U. 



Disk about twice as wide as long : taU more than three times as long as the disk. Fleshy prolongation of 

 snout short, no horn on orbit. Body with a row of small tubercles along the median line of the back in the 

 scapular region, i^ms— dorsal situated at the commencement of the base of the tail, behind the end of the 

 insertion of the ventrals : no spine posterior to it. Colours — greenish-brown, with round blue spots in the 

 posterior half of the disk. Tail white with black rings. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



