CHONDROPTERYGIl. JRAIIDJE. 



TAB. XV. 



MYLIOBATIS AQUILA, Risso. 



Dormideiro : vulgo Dromideiro vel Drnmedario. 



The Eagle Rav. 



Char. Gen. 



Caput distinctum, exsertum ; rostro simplici, ante pinnas pectorales alseformes, latissime expansar., 

 apice acutas, porrecto. Dentes utriusque maxillse in pavimentum centrale, osseum, coadunati, ton- 

 strati : mediis tranversis latis uniseriatis ; lateralibus rliomboideis triseriato-tessellatis. Cauda Ion- 

 gissima, gracilis ; basi supra pinna dorsali unica parva, spinaque serrata instructa, 



Obs. — Pisces Raiiformes, cauda dempta latiores quam longi, maxirai, regionum calidiorum incola;, 

 rarius edules : spinse caudalis ictu gravius sauciantes. 



Char. Spec. 



M. supra olivaceo-fusca s. hepatina, inimaculata : pinnis pectoralibus equilaterali-triangiilanbus, 

 antice convexis : rostro obtuso : cauda corpore subduplo longiore. 



M. aquila, Risso, iii. 162. — Mull, und Henle., 176. — UAiyle do mer, Cuv. R. An. ii. 401. T/m 



Eagle Rat/, Yarr. ii. 445. 



Whip Ray, Penn. iii. 88. 



Raia Aquila, Linn. i. 396, n''. 6. 



Raia corpore glabro, aculeo longo anterius serrato in cauda apterygia. Art. Syn. 100, Gen. 72. 



Aquila, Salv. 147. t. 50. — Will. 64. t. C. 2. (copied from Salviani). — Secunda Paniinaca species, 

 Rondel. 338. 



AliTo;, Arist. Hist. E. §. 2.— 0pp. Hal. A. 642. 



Longit. corporis = f — 15 ped. = ^ X latit. corporis = ^ X longit. caudse. 



Tempus, vera. 



Locus, in mediis prof Olid is: rara. 



This singular fish is very briefly mentioned by Aristotle and the elder 

 naturalists ; yet the mere name of ahrog or Eagle, occurring in such associ- 

 ation as we find it in their writings, seems quite sufficient for the purpose of 

 identification. 



Aristotle enumerates it with the Ray or Skate, the Trygon, the Monk 

 or Angel-fish (ptvrj or Squatina, Dum.), the Ox-fish (^ovg, Cephaloptera, 

 Dum.) ; the Lamia (Lamna, Cuv.), the Torpedo, the Fishing-frog (Lo- 

 phius, L.), and the Sharks especially belonging to the modern genera 

 Galeus and Mustelus, Cuv. ; which compose his tribe of ra cs'Aoc'Y/j.^' 



* Arist. Hist. E. S. 1, 2. 

 VOL. I. 



