66 * BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHEEIES 



of tail are rough with small spines only, except that males have the usual rows of 

 hooks on the outer parts of the pectorals. The anterior snout angle is roughly a 

 right angle; the tip of the snout itself is sharp instead of rounded. The two dorsals 

 are close together, not separated by spines as in the brier skate. 



Size. — The largest recorded specimen was 22 3^^ inches long, the tail being 

 almost exactly half the total length. Its width was 14 inches. 



Color. — Rusty brown above clouded with darker, not spotted; no doubt white 

 below like other skates. Young examples have been seen with white spots. 



General range and occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Of the distribution of this 

 skate, evidently very rare in our Gulf, nothing is known further than that speci- 

 mens have been taken on LaHave Bank and off Provincetown, on the strength of 

 which it has usually been described as "a deep-water form. Banks of Newfoimdland 

 Cape Cod." Nothing whatever is known of its habits. 



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Fig. 27.— Barn-door skate {Raja stabuliforis) 



25. Barn-door skate {Raja stabuliforis Garman) 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900 {Raja Imvis Mitchill), p. 71. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 341. 



Description. — The barn-door skate is easily identified by its large size, very 

 pointed snout, and smooth skin. The mid-dorsal thorns are comparatively small 

 and 'run only from the hinder part of the back over the tail; otherwise the spines, 

 which are very small, are restricted to the sides of the tail, top of the tip of the 

 snout, and to narrow bands along the front edges of the pectoral fins, in front of and 

 between the eyes, with a few scattered here and there over shoulders and back. 

 Thus the whole upper surface is smoother than in any of the other skates. The 

 male is provided with the erectile hooks on the outer parts of the pectorals common 



