266 Papers from the Marine Biological Laboratory at Tortugas. 



had dim white centers, giving the ocelU-Hke appearance. These spots were 

 larger on the back and smaller on the head and outer parts of the pectorals, 

 while near the ventral fins a few ran together to make elliptical or dumb- 

 bell-shaped spots. The right pectoral had on its anterior edge 23 spots, 

 on its posterior 25; the left pectoral had in front 20 and behind 27 spots, 

 not all of which were of approximately equal size. The dorsal had on each 

 side a large spot with a dark hinder edge, and at its base another large spot 

 on each side. On either side of the tail, just under the spines, was a white 

 stripe. The bands shown in Jordan and Evermann's drawing (text-fig. 3), 

 which were not visible to the eye when the specimen was brought to the 

 laboratory and which are not to be found in a photograph of this ray made 

 with a very small diaphragm and a long exposure, were at this time visible 

 as very faint lines, having no width, not bands. This was a male, probably 

 immature, having claspers only half an inch long, pointed at the ends, and 

 with very faint grooves. 



Specimen No. 1, 1910, was taken June 30 in Newport River, about 4 miles 

 from the laboratory. Its measurements, as well as those of Nos. 11 and iii 

 (to be described later) , are given in the table on page 261 . In bringing it into 

 the laboratory, it was badly handled and sunburned, resulting in a loss of 

 cuticle in places, but the color could be made out fairly satisfactorily. 



In the fresh specimen the ground color was a dark chestnut or brown 

 and the spots a rich yellow cream. These spots were found over all the 

 body, but were smaller on the head, while some few in the pectoral region 

 had run together. The fish was put in a boat and partly covered with 

 water. The cream-colored spots gradually became whitish. That part 

 of the fish out of the water turned dark and finally became a velvety black 

 and the spots Hue. The dark cuticle peeled off during the day, leaving the 

 ground color a dirty brown and the spots white. In the fresh (just dead) 

 specimens no bands could be found, but after death faint lines could be 

 made out by close inspection; these, however, did not cross the spots as 

 shown by Jordan and Evermann (text-fig. 3), but were rather outlined and 

 marked off by them. 



After being in 5 per cent formalin for 19 days, this fish showed the fol- 

 lowing colorations : The body generally was of a light chocolate brown with 

 bluish-gray regions where the sunburn was not bad (the cuticle gave the 

 grayish or lead-blue color) ; the spots were white varying to creamy white, 

 some with bright white centers, giving the ocellus-like appearance previously 

 reported. As noted in the first specimen, the spots on the head were smaller 

 than these in the mid-pectoral region — the mid-dorsal and outer pectoral 

 regions were too badly mauled to have their spots described. The spots 

 extended in on the ventral surface of the spiracles. On the right pectoral, 

 anterior edge, there were 17 + spots, and on the same surface of the left fin 

 18 -}- spots. Since the tips of the fins were badly split, the numbers must be 

 marked -f . The dorsal was devoid of spots on and below it. Below the 

 spines there was a white line or stripe on either side. The transverse lines 



