FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



65 



skates. The outer corners of the pectorals are distinctly angular. The dorsal fins 

 are separated by a considerable interval in which there are usually one or two 

 spines, instead of close together as in the httle, spotted, and prickly skates. 



Size. — The brier skate grows to a length of about 2 feet. Specimens of from 21 

 to 22 inches are 13 to 14 inches wide. 



Color. — Described as bro'wn above; the pectorals variously mottled, blotched, 

 and barred with darker; a translucent or white space on each side of the snout; 

 white below. 



General range. — Off the eastern coast of the United States from Cape Cod to 

 Florida. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine.— This is a southern species, uncommon even 

 as far north as Woods Hole and decidedly rare in the Gulf of Maine, where it has 

 been taken only at Provincetown and at Gloucester, the latter its most northerly 

 outpost. 



Fig. 26.— Smooth skate (itaja scnta). After Garman 



24. Smooth skate {Raja senta Garman) 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 71. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 338. 



Description. — This skate is recognizable by its sharp snout, the rounded out- 

 line of the outer margins of the pectoral fins, and by the fact that the mid-dorsal 

 line of thorns runs back only to about the middle of the tail, where it dwindles and 

 disappears. There are also large spines on the front parts of the pectoral fins, on 

 the ridges about the eyes, and a group on each shoulder; otherwise the back and top 



