igoq.] 



N. Annandale : Report on the Batoidei. 



57 



Adults are seldom caught eveu in the trawl and may be solitary. I have only .seen one 

 large specimen, which was taken off the Orissa coa.st. Its measurements are given 

 below. 



Aetobatis fiagelluni (Bloch and vSchneider). (PI. iv, fig. 5.) 

 A. flagellum, Muller and Henle, Syst. Beschr. d. Flag., p. 180. 



The differences between this species and the preceding one are noted in the table 

 showing the specific characters of the three species of the genus. I have not been able 

 to discover any other points that call for notice. Perhaps the tail is longer in propor- 

 tion to the body ; but in most large specimens of Myliobatidae the tail is mutilated. 



Miiller and Henle's description is accurate, as is always the case in the work of 

 these authors, whose monograph, in spite of the fact that it contains a certain number 

 of specific descriptions that refer actually to the young stages of forms described as 

 distinct, is still by far the most rehable guide as regards the identification of the 

 Oriental Batoidei. 



A. flagellum is apparently rare in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal. I have 

 only seen two examples , a male taken by the ' ' Golden Crown ' ' off the Orissa coast 

 in November, and a severed head brought from the mouth of the Chilka I^ake on 

 the same coast in December by Dr. Jenkins. 



Measurements of Indian species of Myliobatis and Aetobatis. 



