FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 325 



Examination of a large number of prickly skates, ranging in size from young, 

 recently hatched, to the largest recorded, allows us to add the following to previous 

 descriptions: 



The pavementlike teeth are in 41 or 42 rows in the upper jaw, 40 to 44 rows in 

 lower jaw (4 specimens) and in the male, at least, there are rather sharp cusps on 

 those teeth situated toward the angles of the jaw. The number of large curved 

 thorns along the midline of the tail and body was as follows on 23 specimens: 12 (2), 

 13 (10), 14 (8), 15 (3), with no correlation between the number of thorns and the 

 size of the specimen. The brownish back is usually marked with small white spots. 

 The young are more spotted than the adults and have six or seven dark cross bars 

 on the upper surface of the tail. 



This skate grows to 3 feet in length, or slightly larger; a 32-inch fish is about 23 

 inches wide. The smallest nearly mature male found was 26 inches long. 



Since nothing was known of the breeding habits of the prickly skate, it is worth 

 recording that a specimen 32 inches long taken on the northern part of Georges 

 Bank, September 22, 1929, had one egg capsule measuring 3 by 2% inches (exclusive 

 of tendrils) in each oviduct, and that a male, 35% inches long had nearly ripe milt, 

 but a number of other large females taken at the same time were barren. 



Prickly skates caught on Georges Bank in September 1929, had been feeding on 

 fish, shrimps, spider crabs, anemones, and worms; this is the first definite information 

 as to the diet of this skate. 



Brier skate, Raja eglanteria Bosc 



An unusually large one, 37% inches long, was taken off Woods Hole, Mass., in 

 August 1932. 



Additional to the few Gulf of Maine records of this skate already reported are 

 two specimens taken on Nantucket Shoals, near Round Shoal Buoy, by the Halcyon, 

 one in July, the other in September 1924. This is a shoal water species, the deepest 

 capture made by Albatross II between southern New England and the offing of 

 Chesapeake Bay being in 38 fathoms. 



Smooth skate, Raja senta Garman 



The smooth skate, formerly believed rare in the Gulf of Maine, is now known 

 to be quite generally distributed on our offshore fishing banks, as well as on soft 

 bottom in the deeper parts of the gulf. We have taken it commonly on Georges 

 Bank, in South Channel, in the deep water (80-100 fathoms) just off Cashes Ledge, 

 near Jeffreys Ledge, and off Chatham. The shoalest capture was from 25 fathoms. 



The largest specimen obtained was 24 inches long. 



Barn-door skate, Raja stabuliforis Garman 



Young specimens are seldom reported, hence it is of interest to record one of 

 7}i inches taken on the western edge of Nantucket Shoals July 14, 1930, in 28 fathoms. 

 This fish had essentially the same characters as the adult. The range of the barn 

 door skate is now known to extend northward to the western part of the Grand 

 Bank of Newfoundland. 



Torpedo, Narcacion nobilianus (Bonaparte) 



As no torpedoes had been reported to the eastward of Cape Cod since 1896, 

 the captures of a 52-inch specimen weighing 78 pounds, on the southwest part of 



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