NO. 1324. ELASMOBRANCHIATE FISHES— JORDAN AND FOWLER. ()59 



r. Two appendages at bottom of month iiisi(U>; tail .1 larger than disk; underside 



dusky gray, without red in life „ kulilii, 47. 



cc. Three appendages at bottom of mouth inside; under side, pale orange red in 



life afcajei, 48. 



////. Snout long and produced, so that greatest width of disk would be about oppo- 

 site to middle of its length zn(/<'i, 49. 



(III. IIimantura: Tail without cutaneous folds; three riiii(»s l(>ngth of disk. 



yerrarili, 50. 



47. DASYATIS KUHLII ( Muller and HenleU 



Trijgon kaldl MiiLi.EH and IIeni.k, IMagiostomen, 1838, p. 104, pi. or; Vaniooro, 

 New Guinea (drawing from a specimen from Nagasaki). — Sciilegel, Fauna 

 Japonica, 1850, p. 308; Nagasaki. — Bleeker, Verb. Rat. Gen. Plag., XXIV, 

 1852, p. 73. — Dumeril, Elasmobranches, 1870, ]>. 603; Amboina, Java, Vani- 

 coro. New Guinea. — Guj^ther, Cat. Fish, VIII, 1870, j). 479; Zanzibar. 



The margin.s of snout form an obtuse angle; only two appendages 

 at bottom of mouth, behind teeth. Body entirely smooth, or with a 

 series of spines, pointing- backward along the median line of back to 

 caudal spine. Tail with a distinct cutaneous fold aV)ove and below, 

 al)out one-half larger than disk. 



Coasts of Japan and southward, not common, readil}' known from 

 I), akajei b}' the grayish, not reddish, coloration of the lower side, 

 Our specimens from Hakodate, Tokyo. Misaki, Wakanoura, Ono- 

 michi, and Hiroshima. 



(Named for the naturalist, M. Kuhl.) 



48. DASYATIS AKAJEI (Muller and Henle). 



AKA-EI (RED SKATE). 



Ti-ygon akajei MvhLER and Henle, Plagiostomen, 1838, p. 165, pi. liii, Nagasaki. — 

 Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, 1850, p. 308; Nagasaki. — Bleeker, Act. Soc. Sci. 

 Indo.-Neerl., Ill, 1857, Japan, IV, p. 44. — Dumeril, Elasmobranches, 1870, 

 p. 604; Nagasaki. 



Disk broadly oval; widest part about second tifth of its length. 

 Head moderate, snout produced into a short, though very blunt point, 

 and anterior edge of disk ver}- broadly convex; eyes small, elevated a 

 little, and 5 in interorbital space; nostrils large, contluent except for 

 the thick, cartilaginous frenum; mouth small, more than one-half 

 snout; teeth tiattened, pavement-like; lower lip with narrow folds; 

 interorbital space broad, flat. Spiracles not quite twice eye. 



Body smooth, except a patch of asperities between and ])osterior to 

 each eye, and a median series on back, developing posteriorly, into 

 large thorny spines to caudal spine; end of tail rough; rest of l)ody 

 ] )erf ectly smooth . 



Base of ventral less than interor])ital sjmce; tail much larger than 

 disk, tapering rapidly till very slender, its width at base more than 

 half interorbital sptice; spine on upper ])art of tail inserted a little 

 before tirst third of its lenoth. longer than snout, and serrate on both 



