54 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



of the tail. Very large examples have the central part of the 

 back closely mailed with small flattened tubercles. The buck- 

 lers bear more resemblance to those of the Rajae, radiata 

 and c 1 a V a t a, than to the tubercles of pastinaca, has- 

 lata, or tuberculata. Mouth arched forward, with five 

 papillae; teeth in quincunx, blunt, smooth. Color of back and 

 tail olive brown ; light to white below. From pastinaca, 

 which this species resembles in shape, it is distinguished by the 

 tubercles, by the length and compression of the tail, and absence 

 of all trace of keel or expansion on its upper side. A young 

 sx>ecimen measures from snout to tail 13.8, in length of tail 

 80.5, and width of pectorals 17.5 inches. The largest specimen 

 in the collection has a total length of 10 feet 3 inches (Coll. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool. Cambridge Mass.). Common south of Cape Cod. 

 Occasionally found northward. (After Garman) 



Formerly hundreds of individuals were caught annually in 

 Gravesend bay, but now it is seldom seen there. The species 

 will live in captivity several months in the spring and summer. 

 Mitchill records it as occurring on the coast of Long Island. The 

 tail, he states, is 5 feet or more in length. Storer described a 

 specimen 9 feet long. He was informed by Dr Yale that the fish 

 was abundant on the flats in the harbor of Holmes's Hole, Mar- 

 thas Vineyard, in July and August. Near Woods Hole Mass. it 

 is common during summer, appearing early in July. 



The sting ray is much dreaded by fishermen, who say that 

 wounds made by its spines are exceedingly painful and danger- 

 ous, the slime secreted by the fish acting as a poison. 



Subgenus DAS YATis 



29 Dasyatis liastata (De Kay) 



Kit 



Pastmaca hastatn De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 373, pi. 65, fig. 214, 1842. 



Trvfjon Mntata Storer, Syu. Fish. N. A. 261. 1846. 



Dasibatis hastata Garman, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 70, 1883. 



Dasyatis liastata Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 83, 1896. 



The sting rays of the subgenus Dasyatis differ from tbe 



type c e n t r u r a in having a narrow keel or expansion on tht^ 



tail both above and below. 



