52 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



Family XXIII.— CEPHALOPTERID^. 



{The Sea Devils.) 



Eays of enormous size, with tlie disk broader than long and the pec- 

 toral fins not continued on the sides of the liead, the anterior or cephalic 

 l^ortion developed as two long ear-like appendages. Mouth wide, ter- 

 minal or inferior. Teeth very small, flat or tubercular, in many series, 

 those of the upper jaw sometimes wanting. Eyes 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 tin 

 at its base, and with or without a serrated spine. Ventral fins not 

 emarginate. Skin more or less rough. Males without difi'erentiated 

 spines on the pectorals, the sexes similar. Ovoviviparous. Genera 2; 

 species about 7. Largest of all rays and among the largest of all fishes. 

 Found in the tropical seas. 



{Myliobatidce, group B. Ceratopterina Giintlier, viii, 496-498.) 

 * Teeth in lower jaw only ; montli terminal Manta, 44. 



44.— ITIAl^TA Bancroft. 



{Ceratopiera Miiller & Henle.) 



(Bancroft, Zool. Journal, 1828-29, iv, 444: type Cephaloptera manta Bancroft = Bata 

 hirostris Walbauin.) 



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. Mouth large, terminal. Teeth 

 minute, present in lower jaw only. Tail w^hip-like, often ( always 1) 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.") 



70. M. birostris (Walbaum) Jordan & Gilbert.— iSea Devil; Devil Fish; Mania. 



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 



