42 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICTHYOLOGY — IV. 



cent space on each side of the rostrum. (Garman.) L. about 2 feet. 



Athmtic coasts of the United States ; not very common. 



(liaia eglanleria Bosc, MSS; Lac^p^de, Hist. Nat. cTes Poiss. ii, 103: Rata desmarestia 

 Le Sneur, Jouru. Ac. Nat. Sci. iv, 100: Raia chantenay Le Saeur, 1. c. 103; Garman, 1. 

 c. 179.) 



tt Anjjle at tip of snout much pi'odnoecl, l)lunt ; rows of teetli ^-^. 



52. K. laevis Mitchill. — Barndoor Skate. 



Angles of the disk more acute than in any of the others ; muzzle 

 much produced, somewhat shovel-shaped at tip. Spines of the body 

 very few and small. Some j)resent above the eyes and spiracles, on the 

 snout, along the anterior border of the pectorals, and on the back ; those 

 on the back very small. A median dorsal row of larger hooked spines 

 extending along the median line of the posterior portion of the back 

 and the tail. Usually two lateral rows on the tail. Female rougher, as 

 usual among rays. Color variable, brownish, with i)aler spots, which 

 are usually ringed with darker. The largest of our Atlantic species, 

 reaching a length of about four feet. Virginia northward; not uncom- 

 mon. 



(Mitcliill, Amer. Monthly Mag. ii, 327, 1817; Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass. 1867,242; 

 Garman, 1. c. IHO. ) 



53. R. g:ranulata Gill. 



•' A remarkable species, with the back and ventral surface covered 

 with minute sharp granular ossifications, obtained by Capt. Joseph W. 

 Collins on Le Have Bank. A species of the same type as B. Icevis, and 

 having 30 to 31 teeth on each side; the back granulated and slate 

 colored; the ventrals distinguished by reticulate markings, and the 

 claspers slender and scarcely expanded." {Gill) 



(Gill MS.; Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst, xi, 1879, 28.) 



2. — Pacific Species. 



54. R. cooperi Girard. — Big Skate. 



Disk broad, its widest part behind the middle. Snout long, regularlj 

 long-acuminate, but not very sharp at tip, the anterior outline of the 

 pectoral not much undulated, and little concave. Interorbital space 

 very broad, almost flat, slightly depressed in the middle. Supraocular 

 ridge scarcely elevated. Eyes small, shorter than the spiracles. Spines 

 on body small and few. Two or three small si)ines around the eye. One 

 or two near the centre of the back. Otherwise none on median line of 

 back, in front of base of ventrals, where a series of spines begins, feeble 



