17-2 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



reached at a smaller size in the south, for the tips of the claspers of two males 568 mm 

 long from Charleston, South Carolina, and 535 mm long from Pass-a-Grille (near 

 Tampa), Florida, appear to have reached their full development. A specimen 30 inches 

 long weighed 6 pounds and one of 31 inches 6V2 pounds."' A length of 37V4 inches 

 is the greatest recorded. '^ 



Developmental Stages. Eggs are probably laid in the spring, at least in the northern 

 part of its range. A female 785 mm long, taken off southern Massachusetts'^ in January, 

 had well developed ovaries with eggs 5—15 mm in diameter. 



The egg cases range in size from about 2—372 inches long (without the horns) 

 and i^l2—l^U inches wide,'* those produced by Florida specimens being considerably 

 smaller than those from New York'^ and Massachusetts specimens. The cases are of 

 the usual Skate shape, the transverse margin being nearly straight and more or less 

 ragged at the end with the longer pair of horns, but moderately concave at the end 

 with the shorter pair. The horns are shorter than the egg case proper. At the end 

 of the case with the longer horns, newly laid eggs in the aquarium had a thin, trans- ■ 

 parent, delicate area which subsequently sloughed away, thus forming a slit which 

 probably serves the same respiratory function as do the slits on the horns in Raja 

 ocellata (p. 246). But this was not visible in preserved specimens. Incubation occupies 

 a period of at least three months'^ but it is not known how much longer. Newborn 

 specimens already show dark markings somewhat similar to the adult pattern. 



Habits. R. eglanteria breeds while inshore. A pair in coitus has been seen (and 

 harpooned) off the coast of Virginia in the spring, "The male grasping the anterior 

 part of the pectoral of the female from above with his teeth, and with claspers directed 

 forward and well inserted."" A female brought in to the New York Aquarium from 

 Sandy Hook in June laid two eggs the next day, and two more three days later. Egg 

 cases, probably of this species, have also been found on beaches in August. 



The stomachs of R. eglanteria that have been examined so far have contained 

 fish, squid,'* crabs and shrimps." 



R. eglanteria often comes so close to the land that it is taken regularly on hook 

 and line from piers and jetties; however, it moves offshore for the cold months and has 

 been taken in depths as great as 65 fathoms in January and February. 



91. Average weights in the Block Island region were found to be: males 24.4 inches long, 2.61 pounds; 27.7 inches, 

 4.28 pounds; 29.25 inches, 4.64 pounds; females 24.5 inches, 3.18 pounds; 27.6 inches, 3.96 pounds; 32.7 inches, 

 7.65 pounds (from unpublished data at the Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory). 



92. Schroeder, Bull. Boston Soc. nat. Hist., 66, 1933: 5. 



93. Caught by the dragger Eugene H., January 31, 1950 in 60 fathoms at about Long. 70° 30' W. 



94. Two egg cases from females taken off Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts, were 3'/$ by z'/j and 3 by z'/g inches. 



95. For description and photographs of eggs laid in the New York Aquarium by a female taken near Rye, New York, 

 see Breder and Nichols (Copeia, 1937: 181-183). 



96. Eggs laid on June i;-i8 in the New York Aquarium had died by September 13 (Breder and Nichols, Copeia, 

 1937: 182). 97. Fowler, Rep. N.J. Mus. (1905), 1906: 72. 



98. In the Block Island, Rhode Island, region, the stomachs of R. eglanteria commonly contain squid throughout early 

 summer. Butterfish {Poronotus) and scup [Stenotomus) are a dominant food during September and October (from 

 unpublished data at the Bingham Oceanographic Laboratory). 



99. For stomach contents of Chesapeake Bay specimens, see Hildebrand and Schroeder (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., 43, 

 1928: 59). 



