70 BULLETIN OF THE BUEEATJ OF PISHEBIES 



THE STING RAYS. FAMILIES DASYBATID^ AND MYLIOBATID^ 



27. Sting ray (Dasyhatus marinus Klein) 



Stingaree; Clam cracker 



Jordan and Evernaann (Dasyatis centrura Mitchill), 1896-1900, p. 83. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 382. 



Description. — The most characteristic features of the sting ray are the very 

 long whiplike tail without dorsal fins and the strong saw-toothed spines that the 

 tail bears on its dorsal surface. The disk is roughly quadrangular, one-fourth 

 wider than long, with the anterior corner much blunter than a right angle, the 

 anterior and posterior margins nearly straight, and the lateral corners bluntly 

 angular. The ventral fins are relatively much shorter than in the common skates. 

 The tail is more than twice as long as the disk, rounded above and tapering regu- 

 larly to a very narrow tip. The spines, of which there are from one to several,^' 

 are situated about one-fifth of the way back along the tail. Young sting rays are 

 smooth-skinned, but adults bear scattered tubercles on the middle and hind parts 

 of the back and on the back and sides of the tail, which become more and more 

 numerous as the ray grows. 



Size. — Maximum length, including the tail, about 12 feet. 



Color. — The general ground tint varies according to the background. 



General range. — Both sides of the tropical and temperate Atlantic, north on 

 the American coast to Cape Cod, and (according to Smith ") not known south of 

 Cape Hatteras. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The only claim of the sting ray to mention 

 here is that it has been recorded from Chatham, on the outer shore of Cape Cod, and 

 that it is said to have been seen on the shoaler parts of Georges Bank. It has 

 no real status as a Gulf of Maine fish, where it appears only as a waif from the 

 south, though common enough as far east as Woods Hole, where it appears in 

 June or early July. Beware of handling any skate with a long whiplike tail lest 

 it prove a sting ray, for its spine is a dangerous weapon. 



Breeding habits. — The sting rays are viviparous. 



28. Sting ray {Basylatus Tiastatus DeKay) 



Jordan and Evermann {Dasyatis hastata DeKay), 1896-1900, p. 83. 

 Garman, 1913, p. 391. 



Description. — This ray so closely resembles D. marinus that we need only 

 point out that the tail bears a low keel on its dorsal surface behind the spines 

 instead of being rounded above as in its relative. 



General range. — Atlantic coast of America, Cape Cod to Brazil. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — This southern sting ray is mentioned here 

 because recorded many years ago from Chatham on Cape Cod. 



M There are three in a specimen figured by Garman and two in one we have examined. 



" The fishes of North Carolina, by Hugh M. Smith. North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, Vol. II, 1907, p. 44. 



