REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 63 



DASYTID^. The Sting Rays. 



16. Dasyatis centrura (Mitchill). Sting Ray. 



Geog. Dist.: Coast of Maine to Cape Hatteras. Reported from Woods 



Hole (Storer, 1842, 1863), Chatham (Storer, 1857, 1863), Woods Hole 



(Baird, 1873 and Smith, 1898), also from Stratford, Connecticut (Linsley 



1844). Formerly common at Gravesend Bay, but now rare. (Bean, 



• 1903.) 



Season in R. I.: Said to have been very common formerly, but are small 

 and few at present. Specimen three feet, four inches long, taken August 

 8, 1906, at Goose Neck, just south of Wickford Light. 



Reproduction: Moore records the birth of young in aquarium. Two 

 broods were born, one of four young and the other of five, on August 

 10 and 15. In neither case did the mothers long survive the birth. 

 The parents measured two feet across the "wings;" the young were 

 about five or six inches across. After August 20, all the specimens taken 

 were the young of the year. (Moore, 1892.) 



Food: Large species of invertebrates such as crabs, squid, clams, sea 

 snails. Sometimes small fishes and annelids. 



Size: Reaches a length of ten to twelve feet. 



17. Dasyatis hastata (D^ Kay). 



Geog. Dist.: West Indies north to Rhode Island. 



The type spfecimen originally described by De Kay in 1842, was a female 

 captured in September off the Rhode Island coast (De Kay, New 

 York Fauna, Fishes, 1842, 373). Also reported from Massachusetts, 

 Holmes Hole (Storer, 1842), and at Chatham (Storer, 1858). 



18. Pteroplatea maclura (LeSueur). Butterfly Ray; Angel-Fish. 



Geog. Dist.: Woods Hole to Brazil. Woods Hole, is rare, and observed 

 mostly in August and September (Smith). Reported from Saybrook 

 and New Haven (Linsley, 1844). Rare at Gravesend Bay (Bean). 



Season in R. I.: Rare. The type specimen of this species described by 

 LeSueur was taken in 1817. (LeSueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1817, 

 41.) In July, 1900, a specimen 23 inches long was taken in the southern 

 part of Narragansett Bay by the Lewis Brothers of Wickford. 



MYLIOBATID^. The Eagle Rays. 



19. Myiiobatis freminviliei (LeSueur). Sharp-headed Ray; Sting Ray. 

 Geog. Dist.: Cape Cod to Brazil. Not common at Woods Hole (Smith, 



1898). Found in Connecticut, Noank. (Garman, 1885.) 



