Fishes of the Western NortJi Atlantic 315 



2 a. No large thorns along midline of back between levels of spiracles and of outer 

 corners of pectorals, or on shoulder regions; upper surface without small 

 prickles except close along outer anterior margins. 



poeyi Bigelow and Schroeder 1948, p. 319. 

 2 b. Midline of back with an unbroken line of large thorns from nuchal region 

 back onto tail; upper surface partly or entirely roughened with smaller prickles 

 in addition to the larger thorns. 



3 a. A group of thorns on tip of snout and others along anterior half of rostral 

 ridge; two thorns in interspace between dorsal fins. 



parcomaculata (von Bonde and Swart) 1924.^' 

 Off Natal Coast, South Africa. 

 3 b. No thorns on tip of snout, along anterior half of rostral ridge, or in inter- 

 space between dorsal fins. durbanensis (von Bonde and Swart) 1924.22 



Off Natal Coast, South Africa. 



Cruriraja atlantis Bigelow and Schroeder 1948 

 Figures 73, 74 



Study Material. Thirteen specimens, male and female, 100—332 mm long, includ- 

 ing the type (No. 36320), trawled by the Atlantis off Havana and the north central 

 coast of Cuba, in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. 



Distinctive Characters. Except for its genus mates C. poeyi, C. parcomaculata and 

 C. durbanensis, C. atlantis is separable from all other known members of the family 

 Rajidae by the complete subdivision of its pelvic fins. And the great width of the inter- 

 space between its first and second dorsal fins marks it off from its three genus mates. 

 The fact that the upper surface of its disc Is about uniformly covered with small prickles 

 further separates it from C. poeyi; the rounded outer corners of its disc distinguish it 

 from C. parcomaculata, and the several rows of enlarged thorns on its tail separate it 

 from C. durbanensis, which has a single row from nuchal region to first dorsal when 

 young and a single row falling short of the first dorsal when older. 



Description. Proportional dimensions in per cent of total length. Male, 297 mm 

 (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 36321). Female, 332 mm (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., 

 type. No. 36320), from Cuba. 



Disc: extreme breadth 54.2, 52.7; length 41.1, 40.7. 

 Snout length: in front of orbits 10. i, 9.5; in front of mouth 12.4, 12.3. 

 Orbits: horizontal diameter 4.7, 5.0; distance between 2.7, 2.6. 

 Spiracles: length 2.5, 2.6; distance between 6.1, 6.3. 



21. Von Bonde and Swart (Fish. Mar. biol. Surv. S. Afr., Rep. 3 [1922], Spec. Rep. 5, 1924: 9, pi. 21, fig. 2). This 

 species was referred by Barnard (Ann. S. Afr. Mus., 21 [i], 1925: 68) to the synonymy of Raja miraletU4 Linnaeus 

 1758, previously known from the Mediterranean and the northwest coast of Africa. But we find nothing in the 

 published accounts or illustrations of R. miralelus (not seen) to suggest that its pelvics are divided, as they are in 

 Cruriraja parcomaculata. 



22. Fish. Mar. biol. Surv. S. Afr., Rep. 3 (1922), Spec. Rep. 5, 1924: 11, pi. 22, fig. i. 



