THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 



229 



Family 0. KAJII).^. The Rays and Skates. 



7. Raja binoculata (iirard. Big Cat if orntu Skate. 



Common. The collection contains the following specimens: No. 2896, a male 10 inches long, from 

 station 4248, in Eastern Passage near Wrangell; no. 2748, a small male seined at Klawock; no. 2837; no. 

 2839, a female; no. 2841, a female 21 inches long, from Puget Sound near Port Townsend; no. 2871, 

 a female; six specimens 6 to 13 inches long collected in Puget Sound by Mr. Todd; one (no. 1272) 15.5 

 inches long dredged by the Albatross August 28, 1891, at station 3450, off Washington. Other speci- 

 mens were dredged at stations 4211, 4214, 4219, 4233, 4192, and in Kilisut Harbor; e.xamples were seen 

 also at Port Townsend, Xanaimo, Karta Bay, Yes Bay, and Dundas Bay. Two very large examples 

 were examined at a salmon trap, linth were females, on which the following notes were made; 



Total length inclies.. 



Length of disk do... 



Width of disk do 



Tip of snout to angle of pectoral do 



Tip of pectoral to base of tail do — 



Weight pounds. . 



Mr. Bell, superintendent nf the Dundas Bay cannery, says rays are often taken in the .salmon 

 traps, some much larger than these. 



.Vt Kilisut Harbor, July 1, two egg capsules were dredged. One was empty, but the other 

 contained 4 eggs, each about the size of a hen's egg. The attached embryos were long (each about 

 3 inches), slender and very squirmy. 



Xo. 2896 is described as follows: Length of disk 1.4 in width; tail 1.3 in length of disk; anterior edge 

 of pectoral scarcely less than length of disk, one-half greater than posterior edge : snout; 3 in length of 

 disk; interorbital width 2.5 in snout; width of mouth equalling interorbital width; disk much broader 

 than long; anterior margin of pectoral nearly straight, scarcely or not at all convex, the 2 margins form- 

 ing an angle of 95 to 98 degrees; tip of snout not produced, nor differentiated from general outline; 

 posterior margin of pectoral gently convex, forming an angle of about 90 degrees with the anterior 

 margin. Three sharp spines about the eye, 2 in front, the third above and posterior; one strong spine on 

 median line of back, midway between nostrils and humeral region; tail with a series of 14 stout prickles 

 lieginning at base and extending to first dorsal fin; one small spine between the 2 dorsals; upper part 

 otherwise entirely smooth and without prickles of any kind; under parts entirely smooth. 



Color light brown; a large black spot equal to twice longest diameter of eye at base of pectoral, 

 surrounded by a broad ring of reddish brown, which in turn is surrounded by a nearly equally broad 

 black ring; the total diameter of the ocellated spot slightly exceeding the inter-spiracle width; an 

 obscure brownish spot behind the large ocellated spot slightly greater than eye in diameter; back 

 [jrofusely covered with small irregularly placed paler spots, those on posterior margin of pectoral oblong. 



From typical R. binoculata this specimen differs in the less projecting snout, the coloration, and the 

 spines. The large spot at the base of the pectoral is that of R. stellulata, but the prickles are less evident. 



An examination of our material shows that the males differ from the females in having the snout 

 blunter and less prodticed and the pectoral ocellus much larger and more distinct. It is also evident 

 that the prickles become more numerous with age. As these variations cover all the differences in 

 characters assigned to the 3 nominal species R. binoculata Girard, R. rhina Jordan & Gilbert, and R. stellu- 

 lata Jordan & Gilbert, we are compelled to regard the three as one species. We have compared our 

 specimens with the types of R. rhina and R. stellulata. 



Recorded by Bean (1882), as Raja binoculata, from the following localities: Sitka; Port .\lthorp; 

 St. Paul, Kodiak Island; and Wrangell. By Gilbert (1895) as Raja stellulata, from Unimak Pass, 

 Bristol Bay, and along the northern shores of Unalaska Island at stations 3217, 3255, 3258, 3310, and 3312. 



Raja binoculata Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 18.54. 19i.>. San Francisco. 



Raja cooperi Girard. Pac. R. R. Surv., 372. 1858, Shoal^vater Bay, Washington. 



Raja stellulata .Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. V. 8. Nat. Mils. 1S.S0, l.W, Monterey. 



iJajarftiTia Jordan A: Gilbert, Proc. \5. S. I-.at. Mus. 1S80. 251. Monterey and San Francisco. 



