157 

 MYLIOBATIS, Cuv. 



W, freminvillii. 



Sharp-nosed Eay. 



Body rhomuoiclal, head prominent beyond the pectorals, 

 which are Avide. Teeth wide, flat, paved. Orbit salient, 

 surrounded by an eminence. Ventral rounded. Tail very 

 long, filiform, triangular, armed above with a serrated spine, 

 and furnished with a fin. Above olivaceous; more or less 

 deep in different specimens, paler on the margins, and sprink- 

 led with distinct rounded spots; beneath white. Width two 

 to three feet. 



M. freininvillii, Lesueur, Journ. Ac. Xat. So. Philad. IV p. 



in. 



Enters Chesaiieake Bay from the ocean. 

 S. I. 



LXII-CEPHALOPTERIDS. 



CERATOPTERA, Mull. & Henle. 



C. vampyrus. 



Dsvil-Fisli. 



Body large; the transverse much exceeding its longitudi- 

 nal diameter. Skin rough to the touch, but without any 

 evident tubercles or spines. Head not distinct from the body, 

 subtruncate in front, slightly convex. Mouth with very 

 small teeth in seven or eight rows. Eyes prominent, lateral, 

 four feet apart. Tail long, longer than body, slender, com- 

 pressed, terminating in a slender extremity, and armed with 

 one or more spines. Dorsal fin small, triangular, with thir- 

 ty-six rays, placed over the base of tlie tail between ventrals. 

 Pectorals much elongated, arched in front, concave behind, 

 projecting on each side of the mouth, and used as instruments 

 of prehension. Ventrals broad, sharp, deeply emarginated 

 and rounded behind; continuous in front with the pectorals. 

 Blue-black above; dusky, varied with large, opaque, white 

 clouds, beneath. Length to base of tail, 10 feet; to the end 

 of tail, 16 feet; width across the tips of the pectorals, 17 feet. 



C. vampyrus, Guenther, VIII p. 498. 



.Cephalopterus vampyrus^ Mitchill, Ann. Lye. iSat. Hist. 

 New York, 1823, I p. 23, pL 2, fig. 1: DeKay, New York 

 Fauna, Fishes, p. 377, pi. 67, fig. 219. 



— giot'na, Lesueur, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. IV. p. 

 115, pi. 6. 



