The Spotted Eagle Ray. 255 



me some 30 minutes after death. These rays have been previously described 

 (Gudger, 1912A), but their measurements will be given here and their mark- 

 ings discussed in the section dealing with color and spots. 



No. I, a female, was taken about half-way between the laboratory and 

 the Narrows of Newport River. It was 28^ inches wide, 19 inches long, 

 with a 33 inch tail. The total length was 49 inches and its weight 11 3^ 

 pounds. It had two spines. 



No. 2 was a male taken in the channel connecting the inner and outer 

 harbors. Its width was 273^ inches, length i83/^, tail 39}^, total length 

 54^/^ inches. It had two spines. 



No. 3, also a male, was taken within 200 yards of the hauling ground 

 where No. 2 was seined. Its width was 37 inches; length, snout to ventrals, 

 263^ inches, tail only 27^, over all 49^ inches. The width between its 

 eyes was 5 inches, the longest diameter of the spiracle was 1% inches, and 

 its weight was over 25 pounds — the limit of my spring balance. This ray 

 had three spines, the middle one of which was torn loose, as was the anterior 

 spine of No. 2 above. Its tail was very short, far too short in proportion 

 to the other dimensions if the fish be compared to a normal ray. Whether 

 or not this abbreviation was the result of an accident, can not be said, since 

 there was nothing to indicate the cause. Interesting points concerning 

 the color, number, size, arrangement, and position of spots of this ray will 

 be taken up in the section dealing with the color. This specimen was the 

 largest and finest of the five which I have had from Beaufort waters. 



Coles (1910), who (as noted above) had furnished me with a fine 

 specimen early in July 1909, had the good fortune to take more than fifty 

 specimens during that season. During July 191 1, he saw nearly as many 

 more but only took eight. The largest of these, a female without eggs or 

 embryos, was 5^ feet wide, 3 feet long, tail 5^ feet long, total length of 

 body 8^ feet, weight 132 pounds. 



In the summer of 1912, Mr. Coles captured a number of spotted rays 

 at Cape Lookout. The measurements of the three largest are as follows: 

 first specimen, a female, 9^ feet long from tip of snout to end of tail, and 

 7 feet 2 inches wide; the second, also a female, was 12 feet long over all, 

 and 7 feet 7 inches wide, and 20 inches thick measured on a lance thrust 

 through the body; the third, a male, was 10 feet long, and 6 feet 11 inches 

 wide. It is to be regretted that measurements of the body proper and of 

 tails alone were not made. These giant rays would probably have weighed 

 400 to 500 pounds each. Further consideration of these specimens will be 

 taken up in the section on markings. 



The specimens taken by Coles and myself, together with certain obser- 

 vations of his noted elsewhere (Coles, 1910), indicate that these rays are 

 far more abundant in the Beaufort region than I had previously thought 

 (Gudger 19 10 and 1912A). Their relative abundance along our coasts at 

 certain seasons of the year is also testified to by various fishermen of Beau- 

 fort and Morehead City. 



