THE LOWER FISHES 



173 



Figs. 19 and 80. Spotted eagle ray (left) and cow-nosed ray Qright'). 



EAGLE RAYS: Family Myliobatidae 



These rays have largely abandoned bottom-living habits, but still feed on the 

 bottom on hard-shelled molluscs and occasional crustaceans. The teeth are well 

 adapted for crushing such resistant fare and are flat and like a pavement in the 

 jaws. When feeding, thev swim near the bottom in order to detect, probably 

 by smell, the currents emitted from clam siphons. Then they dig the clams by 

 flapping their powerful pectorals or by rooting about like a hog with their noses. 

 When not feeding, they swim gracefully and rapidly through the water near 

 the surface and may even leap from the water completely. They rarely rest on the 

 bottom. Because of their active habits, these rays are not as flat as most rays. 

 There is a definite head with an elevated crown, which has the eyes and spiracles 

 on the side rather than on top. The body is heavy and the pectorals powerful 

 and thick. There are one or more poisonous spines at the tail base, but these 

 are so near the body that they cannot be used as efficiently as those of sting 

 rays. Nevertheless, the presence of spines as well as the large size of up to 

 8 feet across and 600 pounds in weight should be enough to caution the 

 swimmer that he had best not tamper with these normally inoffensive fishes. 

 They are very hard to handle and dangerous if hooked or speared. 



Eagle ravs travel over deep water but are most common in sandy or muddy 

 bays where shellfish abound. They seem not to enter enclosed bays and 

 estuaries as sting rays do. They are ovoviviparous and found in all warm 

 temperate and tropical seas. 



SPOTTED EAGLE RAY (SPOTTED DUCK-BILL RAY, LEOPARD RAy) : 



Aetohatus narinari 



Size: Averages 3 to 4 feet across. Up to almost 8 feet across. 



Weight: Up to 500 pounds or more. 



Distribution: Almost cosmopolitan in warm seas. North to North Carolina 

 (rarely the Chesapeake) and over much of the Indo-Pacific. 



Identification: The vivid light spots on the dark olive, brown, or black 

 background form a distinctive pattern. The snout is almost like a duck's bill. 



Habits: These large and spectacular rays are almost exclusively mollusc-eaters. 

 They travel singly, in pairs, or in large schools of hundreds of individuals. A 



