Fishes of the I'Festern North Atlantic 449 



those of all lateral series only about as broad as long; tree anterior margins of median 

 series of teeth weakly concave in upper jaw but straight in lower; 4—5 teeth exposed 

 (hence in function simultaneously) in upper jaw and 9—10 exposed in lower jaw on 

 newborn specimens; about 11 rows exposed in adults. 



Subrostral fin broadly rounded, its midpoint sometimes with a low protuberance, 

 its length anteriorly from level of orbits about 0.5-0.8 as great as distance between 

 orbits. Minimum width of lateral continuation of pectorals along sides of head about 

 V3-V2 ^s great as length of subrostral fin. Dorsal fin about half as high as long, its base 

 about 0.6—0.8 as long as distance between exposed nostrils, its anterior margin nearly 

 straight, posterior margin weakly indented basally; its origin posterior to rear limits of 

 pelvics by a distance 2-3 times as long as base of dorsal. *5 Pelvics extending rearward 

 beyond rear limits of pectorals for a distance about ^/^ as great as distance between eyes ; 

 with rounded corners and nearly straight or weakly convex margins, much as in M. 

 freminvillii, but averaging a little broader relative to their lengths; the anterior margin 

 about 60 "/(, as long as distance from origin of pelvic to rear corner. 



Color. Preserved specimens are chocolate- or greyish-brown above, brownish 

 white below, with the tips of pectorals more or less dusky.** 



Relationship to Extralimital Species. M. goodei resembles small specimens of M. 

 aquila of the eastern Atlantic" in the shortness and obtuseness of its subrostral fin, in 

 the relatively small size of its dorsal fin, and in the position of the latter. But it differs 

 from M. aquila in the considerably greater distances between the inner ends of the 

 more posterior pairs of gill openings relative to other proportionate dimensions,** per- 

 haps in blunter posterior pectoral corners, and seemingly in a relatively smaller eye 

 as well.*' 



The color of the teeth may also prove diagnostic, these being green in all specimens 

 of M. goodei that we have examined, as in M. freminvillii (p. 442), also, but they are 

 amber yellow in the only two M. aquila that we have seen.^" See p. 437 for comparison 

 with eastern Pacific species. 



Size. Neither the size at which males become sexually mature nor the maximum 

 size is known. A female, 990 mm wide, is the largest recorded so far. 



Developmental Stages. Embryos of this Ray have not been seen. 



Habits. Nothing is known of the habits of M. goodei as distinguished from those of 

 its close relative M. freminvillii. Presumably its diet is the same as that of the latter; 

 i. e., whatever large Crustacea and hard-shelled mollusks may be locally available." All 



45. About three times as long as base of dorsal in two smaller specimens seen, twice as long in largest seen. 



46. No information is available as to the color in life. 



47. See p. 443 for further discussion of this character in M. aquila. 



48. Distance between inner ends of fifth pair of gill openings only about 1.2 times as long as distance between exposed 

 nostrils in two small specimens of M. aquila from the Mediterranean. 



49. Horizontal diameter of eye only about '/a (30-37 "/„) as great as distance between inner ends of nostrils in M. goodei; 

 about '/, (50 "/„) in M. aquila. 



50. We have found no published statement as to the color of the teeth in any of the numerous accounts of M. aquila. 



51. A Myliobatis recorded as M. aquila from Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil (von Ihering, Rev. Mus. paul., 

 2, 1897: 35), but without further clue as to its specific identity, contained bivalve mollusks {Solecurtus) in its stomach. 



