14 



2. Raja radiata, Donov. 1808. 



f Raja fuUonica, Fabr. Fauna Groenl. No. 87, p. 125 (1780). 

 Raja radiata, Donov. Nat. Hist. Brit. Fish., vol. 5, tab. 114 ilSOR). 



Loealit. fra Nordh.-Exp. Tanafjord i Finmarken, 

 samt Havet mellem Beeren Eiland og Spitsbergen. 



Alm. Bemærkninger. Ingen Forskjel kunde opdages 

 mellem Individerne fra disse Localiteter. og andre fra Nor- 

 ges sydlige Fjorde. Antallet af de lange Torne nedad 

 Ryggen fra Skulderpartiet til Dorsalerne varierede mellem 

 12 og 14. 



Ved en tidligere Lejlighed 1 har jeg gjort opmærksom 

 paa. at naar der i Diagnoserne for denne Art opgives, 

 at den mangler Torn mellem de 2 Dorsaler, er dette unøj- 

 agtigt. idet et ikke ubetydeligt Antal Individer besidde en 

 saadan, medens vistnok Flertallet mangler den. Blandt et 

 stort Antal Individer, som jeg i 187G og 187-8 havde Lej- 

 lighed til at imdersøge i Porsanger fj orden i Finmarken, 

 havde idetmindste en Fjerdepart en saadan Torn mellem 

 Dorsalerne. Af de under Nordbavs-Expeditionen erholdte 

 8 Individer fandtes denne Torn ogsaa netop hos de 2. 



Føde. I Yentrikelen af et af Individerne fra Tana- 

 fjorden fandtes flere Amphipoder, hvoriblandt kunde nogen- 

 lunde sikkert kjendes Arterne Anonyx lagena, Kr., og Ace- 

 7'os phyllonyx, (M. Sårs). 



Udbredelse. Raja radiata har en større geographisk 

 Ddbredelse, end nogen anden a f de europæiske Arter, og 

 forekommer lige fra de engelske Kyster gjennem Nordsøen 

 og Kattegat til den. sydlige Del af Østersøen. fremdeles 

 langs hele Norges Vestkyst op til ^Finmarken, i hvis Fjorde 

 den er yderst talrig; derfra gaar den i Ishavet op til 

 Spitsbergen, hvor den hidindtil ikke var iagttaget, men 

 hvor den forekommer lige op til de nordligste Dele. ligesom 

 den gjennem Faber er kjendt fra Island. Endelig opfores 

 den og beskrives allerede af Fabricius i 1780 fra Grønland 

 under Navn af Raja fullonica (Fauna Groenl. No. 87). 

 Ved de amerikanske Kyster gaar den mod Syd idetmindste 

 til New-England under 40° N. B. 



2. Raja radiata, Donov. 1808. 



t Raja fullonica, Fabr. Fauna Grroenl. No. 87, p. 125 (1780.) 

 Raja radiata, Donov. Nat. Hist. Brit. Fish., vol. 5, tab. 114(1808). 



Locality (North Atl. Exped.): — The Tana Fjord, in 

 Finmark, and the sea between Beeren Eiland and Spitzbergen. 



General Remarks. — No difference could be detected 

 between the individuals taken in these localities and speci- 

 mens obtained from the southern fjords of Norway. The 

 number of long spines extending down the dorsal ridge 

 was from 12 to 14. 



On a former occasion 1 I called attention to the 

 fact that, contrary to the diagnosis of this species given 

 by some ichthyologists, a spine between the two dorsals 

 does occur in a considerable number of individuals, though 

 wanting in most. Opportunity was afforded me in 1876 

 and 1878 of examining numerous individuals from the 

 Porsanger Fjord, in Finmark, and one-fourth had a 

 spine between the dorsals. Of the 8 examples obtained 

 on the North Atlantic Expedition, this spine occurred 

 in 2. 



Food. — In the stomach of one of the specimens 

 from the Tana Fjord were divers Amphipods. amongst 

 which Anonyx lagena, Kr., and Aeeros phyllonyx, (M. Sars), 

 could alone be determined with comparative certainty. 



Distribution. — Raja radiata (Starry Ray) has a 

 wider geographical range than any other of the European 

 species; it is met with on the British coast, in the North 

 Sea. the Cattegat. and the South-Baltic; along the entire 

 line of the coast of Norway, as far north as Finmark, 

 being exceedingly numerous in the fjords of that province; 

 from thence its range extends to the Arctic Ocean as far 

 north as Spitzbergen (where it had not previously been 

 observed); according to Faber, it occurs, too, on the 

 coast of Iceland ; and the species was mentioned and described 

 (as Raja fullonica) by Fabricius, as far back as 1780, 

 among the fishes of Greenland. The range of this species 

 on the North American coast certainly extends as far south 

 as the New England States, in lat. 4.0° N. 



1 Fork Vid. Selsk. Chra. 1879, No. 1. p. 10a 



Forh. Yid. Selsk. Chra. 187H. No. 1. p. lur,. 



