52 CONTKIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
Family XXIII.— CEPHALOPTERID^. ' 
[The Sea Devils.) 
Bays of enormous size, with the disk broader than long and the pec- 
toral fins not continued on the sides of the head, tlie anterior or cephalic 
portion developed as two long ear-like appendages. JMoutli wide, ter- 
minal or inferior. Teeth very small, flat or tubercular, in many series, 
those of the upper jaw^ sometimes wanting. Ej^es lateral. Nostrils 
widely separated, their valves united, forming a flap as wide as the cleft 
of the mouth. Tail long and slender, whip-like, with a single dorsal fin 
at its base, and with or without a serrated spine. Ventral fins not 
emarginate. Skin more or less rough. Males without differentiated 
spines on the pectorals, the sexes similar. Ovo viviparous. Genera 2; 
species about 7. Largest of all rays and among the largest of all fishes. 
Found in the tropical seas. 
{Myliohatidce, group B. Ceratopterina Giintbei’, viii, 496-493.) 
* Teeth iu lower jaw only ; mouth terminal Maxta, 44. 
44.— MANTA Bancroft. 
{Ceratoptera Muller *&. Ilenle.) 
(Bancroft, Zool. Journal, 1828-’29, iv, 444: type Ceplialoptera manta Bancroft = Rahi 
hirostris Walbaum.) 
Disk broader than long, its exterior angles acute, the posterior mar- 
gins of the pectorals concave. Head truncate in front ; the cephalic 
fins long, turned forward and inward. Month large, terminal. Teeth 
minute, present in lower jaw only. Tail whip-like, often (always?) with- 
out serrated spine. Skin rough, with small tubercles. Two species 
known. {Manta, blanket, “a name used at the pearl fisheries between 
Panama and Guayaquil to designate an enormous fish much dreaded 
by the divers, whom it is said to devour after enveloping them in its 
vast wings.”) 
'J'O. M. Bjjrostris (Walbaum) Jordan & Gilbert. — Sea Devil ; Devil Fish; Manta. 
Disk not quite twice as broad as long. Tail about as long as the disk. 
Teeth in about 100 longitudinal series, which are separated by distinct 
interspaces. Skin of body and tail everywhere covered with small 
stellate tubercles, rendering the surface very rough. Brownish, the 
