Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 389 



Genus Himantura Miiller and Henle 1837 



Himantura Miiller and Henle, Arch. Naturg., J, 1837: 400; Charlesworth Mag. Nat. Hist., 2, 1838: 90; 

 diagnosis but no species mentioned; type species. Raja uarnak Forskil 1775, Arabia, designated by Gar- 

 man (Mem. Harv. Mus. comp. Zool., j6, 1913: 375)-^^' 



Generic Synonyms: 



Raja (in part) Forskal, Descr. Anim., 1775: viii, 18; for R. uarnak ForskAl, Arabia; not Raja Linnaeus 1758. 

 Trygon (in part) Cuvier, R&gne Anim., 2, 1817: 136, footnote 2; for Raja uarnak Forskal 1775. Arabia. 

 Pastinachus Riippejl, Neue Wirbelt. Abyssinia, 4, Fische, 1835: 69; for Raja uarnak Forskal 1775; not Pasti- 



nachus Riippell 1828. 

 Letobatus Bleeker, Ned. Tijdschr. Dierk. Amst. (1863), I, 1864: 264; for Raja uarnak Forskal 1775; not Leio- 



batus Rafinesque 1 8 10, equals Rkinobatos Link 1790, which see, p. 50. 

 Leiobatis Bleeker, Arch. Neerland. Sci. Nat. Haarlem, JJ, 1878: 36; emended spelling for Letobatus Bleeker 



1863. 

 Dasyatis (in part) Stead, Add. Fish. Fauna N. S. W., /, 1907: 2; for Raja uarnak Forskal 1775; not Dasyatis 



Rafinesque 1810, which see, p. 340. 

 Dasybatis Regan, Ann. Natal Mus., I, 1908: 242; for Raja uarnak Forskal 1775; not Dasybatis Blainville 



(in Vieillot, Faune Fran?., Poiss., 1825: 12), equals Raja Linnaeus 1758, which see, p. 138. 

 Himanturus ("subgroup" of Dasybatus) Garman, Mem. Harv. Mus. comp. Zool., j6, 191 3: 375; emended 



spelling for Himantura Miiller and Henle 1837. 

 Himantura (subgenus of Dasyatis) Fowler, Bull. U.S. nat. Mus., 100 (7j), 1941: 403. 



Probable Generic Synonyms: 



Trygonobatus (in part) Blainville, Bull. Soc. philom. Paris, 8, 18 16: 112; for T. longicauJalus Blainville (name 



only), classed by Fowler (Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 100 [jj], 1941 : 406) as equal to Raja uarnak Forskal 



1775- 

 Doubtful Generic Synonym: 

 Brachioptera Gratzianow, Zool. Anz., JO, 1906: 400; type species, B.rhinoftera Gratzianow, Singapore; 



monstrosity (embryo) with anterior parts of pectorals free from sides of head ; probably Himantura or 



Gymnura because without caudal folds. 



Generic Characters. Tail much longer than disc, its upper surface armed with a 

 large serrate-edged spine (or spines); without well developed longitudinal dermal fold 

 along either its lower or upper surface. Pelvis forming an angle of about 1 1 5°, directed 

 forward. Characters otherwise as in Dasyatis (p. 340). 1^* 



Range. Indian Ocean in general; Red Sea; East Indies; Philippines; southeastern 

 coasts of Asia north to Japan; Australia; Melanesia; Micronesia and Polynesia; 

 Pacific Coast of Central America; and western tropical Atlantic. 



Species. Some 12 species referable to Himantura as here defined are recognized 



153. Himantura was proposed as a new genus by Miiller and Henle in 1837 for Sting Rays in which there is no trace 

 of a "schwanzflosse," but they mentioned no particular species, though they stated later (Charlesworth Mag. Nat. 

 Hist., 2, 1838: 90) that it included six. In 1865 Dumeril, who employed it as a subgenus (Hist. Nat. Poiss., i, 1865: 

 583), referred no less than 14 species to it. But it was not until 1913 that a type was expressly designated for it by 

 Garman, as stated above, under the emended spelling Himanturus. 



154. This definition for Himantura agrees essentially with those of Garman (Mem. Harv. Mus. comp. Zool., 36, 1913: 

 375) and Fowler (Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 100 [13], 1941 : 403), except that it admits species with a low keel on the 

 lower surface of the tail below the spine, an expansion that seems requisite to provide a generic location for Dasy- 

 atis pacijicus Beebe and Tee-Van (Zoologica N. Y.,26, 1941: 262) from Costa Rica, which closely resembles H. 

 schmardae of the Atlantic (p. 390) in most other respects. The pelvis of H. schmardae is described as having a low 

 triangular median process, directed dorsad (Boeseman, Zool. Meded., jo [2], 1948 : 32). But the pelvis of a specimen 

 we dissected shows no trace of any such projection. 



