328 Memoir Sears Foundation for Marine Research 



their length to inner margins of pectorals; snout either expanded terminally in 

 form shown in Fig. 78 a or prolonged as a simple filament. 



Springeria Bigelow and Schroeder 1951, p. 328. 



Genus Springeria Bigelow and Schroeder 1951 



Figure 78 a 



Springeria Bigelow and Schroeder 195 1 : J. Wash. Acad. Sci., 41 (3), 1951 : in; type species, S.folirostris Bige- 

 low and Schroeder; Gulf of Mexico off mouth of Mississippi River, Lat. 2<foz' N, Long. 88°34' W., 

 232-258 fathoms. 



Generic Characters. Snout either prolonged as a simple filament or expanded 

 terminally as shown in Fig. 78 a. Lower side of tail as well as upper with caudal mem- 

 brane. Outer margins of posterior lobes of pelvics united along first ^/g of their length 

 with inner margins of pectorals; inner margins of posterior pelvic lobes attached nearly 

 to tips to sides of tail. No radial cartilages along anterior half of basipterygial cartilages 

 of pelvic fins. Pelvis transverse, its anterior profile slightly concave rearward, a long 

 slender process at either end directed forward. Firm rostral cartilage extending to base 

 of filament. Other characters those of the family (p. 327). 



Species. Two species known, S.folirostris Bigelow and Schroeder 1951, from Gulf 

 of Mexico, probably also dubia (von Bonde and Swart) 1924, South Africa (see p. 327, 

 footnote 28). 



Key to Species 



I a. Snout prolonged as a simple filament. dui>ia von Bonde and Swart 1924. 



South Africa.29 

 I b. Snout expanded terminally in leaf-like form (Fig. 78 a). 



foUrostris Bigelow and Schroeder 1951, p. 328. 



Springeria foHrostris Bigelow and Schroeder 1951 

 Figure 78 a 



Study Material. Immature male, type, 400 mm long to base of terminal filament, 

 from northern Gulf of Mexico off the Mississippi River, Lat. 29°o2' N, Long 88°34' W, 

 in 232-258 fathoms (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 152546); very young male, 125 mm long, 

 from same general locality, Lat. 2 9°oi' N, Long. 8 8° 30' W, in Harvard Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology. Also 1 1 others, of both sexes, 220—620 mm long, from the 

 north central and northeastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico, collected by U. S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service vessel Oregon in 185-254 fathoms, September 1951, at stations 

 476, 481, and 489. 



Distinctive Characters. S.folirostris differs from all other known batoids in the 



29. Status doubtful; see p. 327, footnote 28. 



