494 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



was oriented so as to plainly show the white side uppermost, with pectorals stand- 

 ing up.''^"' 



At Cape Lookout, the most northerly locality on the Atlantic Coast of the United 

 States where the presence of this Ray has been established definitely, the dates of oc- 

 currence have been confined to the last three weeks of July. No doubt it occurs the year 

 round in the more tropical part of its range. 



Numerical Abundance. Nothing is known as to the numbers of the Lesser Devil Ray 

 either off the Brazilian Coast or in the Caribbean. The numbers caught yearly in July 

 on the North Carolina Coast near Cape Lookout from 19 12 to 19 14 ranged between 

 9 and 21, with a total catch of about 75 for the five years. 



Relation to Man. The flesh, light red in color, is described as having an excellent 

 flavor.!'* gut the numbers taken are not large enough anywhere for it to be of com- 

 mercial value, even if its desirability as a food fish were appreciated. 



Range. Coastal waters of western Atlantic, Brazil northward regularly to Cape 

 Lookout, North Carolina,i'^ perhaps straying to New Jersey; also Coast of Senegal, 

 West Africa. 



Occurrence in the Western Atlantic. The presence of Mobula hypostoma has been 

 positively established only at Santos, Brazil;"" Jamaica; Lemon Bay, western Florida; 

 New Smyrna Beach, eastern Florida (see Study Material, p. 488); and Cape Lookout, 

 North Carolina. But the distribution of these localities shows that it is to be expected 

 anywhere on the Atlantic Coast of America between about Lat. 24—25° S and 34—35° N. 

 The fact that one or more schools were sighted near Cape Lookout every July for several 

 years during the period from 19 10 on suggests that at least a few may be expected to 

 wander northward as far as that every summer. It has been reported from the coast of 

 New Jersey also,^ but the specimen in question was so large (9 ft. wide) that it may 

 have been a Mobula mobular that had strayed across the Atlantic (p. 496). 



Synonyms and References: 



Cephalopterus hyfostomus Bancroft, Proc. zool. Soc. Lond., 1831: 134 (descr., Jamaica); Zool. J. (1832-1834), 



5, 1835: 411 (diagn., Jamaica). 

 Cephaloptera olfersii Miiller, Abh. Akad. Wiss. Berl., 1834: 31 1 (Brazil; not seen); Miiller and Henle, Plagiost., 



1841: 185 (descr., meas., size, Brazil); Dumeril, Hist. Nat. Poiss., I, 1865: 657, pi. 6, fig. 8 (descr., 



color, size, ill. teeth, Brazil). 

 Cephaloptera massenoidea HiU, Intell. Observ., 2, 1862: 162—176 (name, ill. embryo, capture, size, Jamaica, 



descr., feeding habits). 

 Dicerobatis olfersii Giinther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., 8, 1870: 497 (descr., Brazil); Leigh-Sharpe, J. Morph., 



42, 1926: 218, 317 (ill. claspers). 

 Cephaloptera rochebrunei Vaillant, Bull. Soc. philom. Paris, (7) J, 1879: 171 (descr., color, size, Senegal); Roche- 



brune. Act. Soc. linn. Bordeaux, (4) 6, 1882: 58, pi. i, figs, i, 2; also Faune Senegambie, i, Poiss., 



107. Coles, Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist., 28, 19 10: 343-J44. 



108. Coles, Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist., 28, 1910: 342. 



109. Garman (Mem. Harv. Mus. comp. Zool., j6, 1913: 453) gave the range as "Brazil to New York." It has been 

 suggested by Whitley (Aust. Zool., 8, 1936: 187) "that Carman's beautiful figures were probably made from New 

 York specimens." Actually they were drawn from a Brazilian specimen (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 683) col- 

 lected many years ago, a companion of which we have seen. 



no. Also reported from Brazil without definite locality. in. Fowler, Fish Culturist, 9, 1930: 115. 



