Fishes of the IVestern North Atlantic 67 



sandy beaches, as described above, they are feeding on sand-dweUing Crustacea, such 

 as gammarld amphipods, or Hippa. 



Relation to Man. This species is neither commercially important nor of interest 

 to anglers. 



Range. Western Atlantic in coastwise waters from Yucatan to Cape Lookout, 

 North Carolina. The great majority of published records for this species have been 

 for captures from Florida, ^'^ where it occurs generally (not uncommonly by local report) 

 along both coasts, presumably as a year-round resident. A few wander northward in 

 spring and early summer along the Atlantic Coast, perhaps yearly, for it is "well- 

 known to fishermen" at Charleston, South Carolina.^" Also, it has been taken occa- 

 sionally on the North Carolina Coast. 5' But there is no reason to suppose that It ever 

 passes Cape Hatteras, except perhaps as a stray. 



The northward distribution of R. lentiginosus along the Atlantic Coast, combined 

 with the presence ot specimens from Texas that appear to represent a color variant of it 

 (see Study Material, p. 60), makes its occurrence probable all along the northern 

 and northwestern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. However, present indications are that 

 its range is as sharply limited equatorward as it is northward in the Atlantic, for the 

 only report of it from farther south than Florida and Texas is of two specimens from 

 Progresso, Yucatan. ^^ And typical R. lentiginosus is so easily recognizable by its con- 

 spicuous color pattern, thorny snout, and spatulate rostral cartilage that it is not likely 

 to have been overlooked among the representatives of its genus that have come under 

 observation from Atlantic Panama, from Jamaica, and from Brazil (pp. 60, 71). 



Synonyms and References: 



Rhinobatus lentiginosus Garman, Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv., 6, 1880: 168 (descr., cf. other species, size, 

 Florida); Proc. U. S. nat. Mus., J, 1881 : 519 (descr., cf. other species, Florida and S. Carolina); Goode 

 and Bean, Proc. U. S. nat. Mus., 5, 1882: 240 (listed, Gulf of Mexico); Jordan and Gilbert, Proc. U. S. 

 nat. Mus., 5, 1883: 582, 619 (descr., color, female with embryos, Charleston, S. Carolina); Bull. U. S. 

 nat. Mus., 16, 1883: 65 (descr., Florida); True, List Vert. Anim. S. Carolina, in Handb. S. Carolina, 

 1883: 261 (listed, S. Carolina); Jordan, Proc. U. S. nat. Mus., 7, 1884: 148, 149 (listed, Florida Keys); 

 Rep. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1885), 1887: 798 (listed, W. Indian Fauna, including Florida Keys); Lonn- 

 berg, Oefvers. Svensk. Vet. Akad. Forh., Arg. 51 (3), 1894: 11 1 (no. rostral spines, Florida Keys, Clear- 

 water Bay); Henshall, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 14, 1895: 210 (size, Florida Keys, Tampa); Jordan 

 and Evermann, Rep. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1895), 1896: 220 (listed, Charleston, S. Carolina southward); 

 Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 47 (i), 1896: 62 (descr., Charleston, S. Carolina, Florida); Evermann and Ken- 

 dall, Rep. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1899), 1900: 49 (Florida); Jordan and Evermann, Bull. U. S. nat. Mus., 

 47 (4), 1900: pi. 8, fig. 28, pi. 9, figs. 2 8a-28b (ill.); Evermann and Goldsborough, Bull. U. S. Fish 

 Comm., 21, 1902: 139 (listed, Progresso, Yucatan); Jordan, Guide to Study Fish., j, 1905: 551, fig. 

 343 (ill., Florida, S. Carolina); Smith, Bull. N. C. geol. econ. Surv., 2, 1907; 40 (descr., ill., N. Carolina); 

 Gill, Smithson. misc. Coll., ^2 (2), 1908: 158 (body form, ill.); Coles, Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. Hist., 

 J2, 1913: 33 (female with eggs, C. Lookout, N. Carolina); Engelhardt, Abh. bayer. Akad. Wiss., Suppl. 



55. It has been reported from Tampa, and from Clearwater Bay nearby, Captiva Pass, Lemon Bay, and Punta Rassa 

 on the west coast, from various localities in the region of the Keys, and from Palm Beach and New Smyrna Beach 

 on the east coast. 



56. Jordan and Gilbert, Proc. U.S. nat. Mus., 5, 1883: 582. 



57. One definite report for Beaufort, North Carolina, one for Morehead City, and four specimens from Cape Lookout 

 in July of 1912 and 1913. 



58. Evermann and Goldsborough, Bull. U.S. Fish Comm., 2/, 1902: 139; see also our Study Material. 



