The Spotted Eagle Ray. 



281 



Text-fig. 6. — Ventral views of 

 B, A. guttata; C, A. narinari. 



heads of: A, A. flagellum; 

 After Annandale, 1910. 



(fig. 2, plate i) shows the snout in perfect focus. Here it is seen to be long, 

 rather slender, and distinctly sharp-pointed. It is in marked contrast with 

 text-figure 4, which is Jordan and Evermann's ventral view. 



In this connection, it 

 is of interest to contrast 

 with my photographs 

 Annandale's outline 

 figures of the snouts]and 

 mouth parts of other 

 eagle rays (text-fig. 6). 

 A shows mouth parts 

 and snout of A . flagel- 

 lum, B oi A. guttata, 

 while C purports to 

 be a reproduction of 

 Jordan and Evermann's 

 figure, showing these 

 structures in A. nari- 

 nari. However, a com- 

 parison of this figure 

 with the original (text-fig. 4) will show how much the artist has erred. If 

 the snout of my figure 2, plate i, were drawn to the same scale, it would 

 be almost as long and slender as A in text-figure 6. Figure 25, plate x, 

 is a photographic reproduction of Annandale's elegant figure of Aetobatus 

 flagellum. One's attention is at once called to the notably projecting head 

 and snout, these being strongly marked specific characters for this ray. 



The structure of the head and snout is not well brought out in figure i, 

 plate I, but is much clearer in figure 14A, plate vi, which is the head only of 

 specimen No. i for 1910, elsewhere described. The head is large and prom- 

 inent, the spiracles especially so, and the eyes are placed laterally on the 

 sides of the head and are invisible. The snout, however, is of special in- 

 terest, being long and pointed, quite as much so as is the snout of A. guttata,. 

 B in text-figure 6, according to Annandale. The tendency of the cephalic 

 fins to curl up is noticeable in this figure. The white marks on the head 

 are scratches received in handling and transportation. The fish when caught 

 was perfectly normal. Another type of snout is seen in figure i^B, plate vi. 

 This is the head only of specimen No. 2 for 1910. This fish had a snout 

 longer and more pointed than any which the writer has yet seen. In these 

 respects it is comparable to Annandale's number A in text-figure 6. 



An entirely different type of snout is found in figures 15 and 19, plates 

 VI and VIII. These are photographs of the head of Coles's 1909 specimen. 

 The asymmetry of the snout at once challenges attention, as also does its. 

 bluntness and its great width of base. The tending to wrinkle of the loose 

 skin covering the cephalic fins is well shown in the former figure. The 

 other spotted ray taken in 1909 also had an asymmetrical snout and cephalic 

 fins which curled up laterally. 



