84 fishes of new zealand. 



Raja. 



Tail very distinct from the disc ; two dorsal fins on the tail ; caudal 

 small or rudimentary ; each ventral jin divided into two hy a deep notch; 

 nasal valves sepai-ated in the middle, where they are without a free 

 mai'gin ; teeth obtuse or pointed ; pectoi'als not extending to the 

 extremity of the snout ; the sexes differ in the form of the teeth, and in 

 the dermal spines. 



Seas of both hemisphei'es. 



135. RAJA NASUTA. Soland. C.M. 



Skate. 

 B. nasuta, Glinth., VIII., 469. 

 Male. — Back nearly smooth, with a few scattered asperities ; a patch 

 of sharp hooked spines near the centre, and another at the anterior basal 

 corner of the pectorals ; anterior edge of the pectorals with small hooked 

 spines ; tail with a single row of blunt ribbed spines, with smaller ones 

 between them ; snout produced, acute ; anterior lateral profile deeply 

 emarginate ; interorbital space concave, about one-third of the length of 

 the snout ; mouth crescent-shaped ; teeth long, curved, and pointed, 

 except the jjosteiior ones, which are blunt ; dorsals nearly equal, 

 distance between them equal to the base of the first. 



Female. — Back rough, belly smooth ; five to six spines over each 

 eye, one to three on the back over tlie shouldei-s ; no hooked spines on 

 the pectorals, except some small ones on the anterior edge ; tail with 

 three rows of spines, one on the top and one on each side, those on the 

 top continuing up the back as far as the end of the venti-als ; teeth 

 smaller than in the male. 



Above brown, marbled or spotted with darker, below white ; edges 

 of pectorals tinged with reddish ; small round black dots before the 



mouth. 



Common, The female hei'e desci-ibed is undoubtedly R. nasuta ; I 

 am not sure that the male belongs to the same species, but as the only 

 specimen that I have seen of it was a small dried individual, picked 

 up on the shore, I consider it safer for the present to refer it to R. 

 nasuta also. 



TRYGONID^. 



Pectoral fins continued uninterruptedly to, and confluent at the 

 extremity of the snout ; tail long and slender, without -v^ertical fins, but 

 generally armed with a strong serrated sjnne. 



