Selachians Extraord'mary 275 



species in tiiis family, since they resemble one another so closely, are 

 placed in a single genus, Rhi?ioptera. 



The principal Cow-Nosed ray of the Atlantic {Rh'moptera bofiasus 

 Mitchell, 1815) grows to a maximum of 7 feet in breadth and has been 

 reported to weigh as much as 100 pounds; generally, however, it is in the 

 25- to 70-pound range. It bears one or two barbs near the base of its 

 long, thin tail. It is found along the coast of the western Atlantic, from 

 southern New England to Brazil. Occasionally, large schools of Cow- 

 Nosed rays appear at various places along its range. Another similar 

 Cow-Nosed ray (Rhinoptera brasiliensis Miiller and Henle, 1841) is found 

 along the western South American coast. Other species are known in the 

 coastal waters of the tropical and warm-temperate areas of all oceans. 



A fatal attack by a Cow-Nosed ray {Rh'moptera javanica) was re- 

 ported in 1936 by A. F. Umali of the Philippine Department of Agri- 

 culture and Commerce. Large numbers of these rays sweep into Manila 

 Bay during their breeding season. During one of these runs, Umali re- 

 ported, "a fisherman from Bataan succumbed to a wound inflicted in the 

 region of the stomach by the spine of this ray." 



Family Mo bulidae— Devil Rays 

 Spangles of sunlight glitter on the silent blue of the sea. Suddenly, 

 from out of the depths flashes a glistening giant, its huge, sleek body 

 catapulting clear of the riven waters. With a thunderous sound, the giant 

 crashes back to the surface and vanishes beneath it. The sea is silent 

 again. 



Those who have seen this sight will never forget it. They have seen 

 a Giant Devil ray (Manta birostris Donndorff, 1798), a true monster 

 of the deep, which grows to a breadth of 20 feet or more and often 

 weighs more than 3,000 pounds. The Giant Devil ray, or Manta, and 

 its smaller close relatives in the Mobitlidae family, seem to have aband- 

 oned the bottomlands prowled by other rays for the more exhilarating 

 life at or near the surface of the sea. Several of them have been seen at 

 the same time, leaping as high as 5 feet above the surface, possibly to 

 rid their huge bodies of hordes of parasites. Sometimes they somersault, 

 breaking surface head-first, then revolving on edge in a spectacular 

 cartwheel, with one pectoral fin emerging while the other is descending 

 back into the sea. 



The power that produces such awesome calisthenics also is sum- 

 moned up when a Giant Devil ray is harpooned. One monster 22 feet 

 in breadth towed a 25-foot motorboat more than 10 miles, with the 

 boat's anchor dragging on the bottom part of the time. After 5 hours 

 it was still alive, though four harpoons and several rifle bullets were 

 imbedded in its body- 



