54 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



of the tail. Very large examples have the central part of the 

 back closely mailed with small flattened tubercles. The buck- 

 lers bear more resemblance to those of the B a j a e, radiata 

 and c 1 a v a t a, than to the tubercles of p a s t i n a c a, h a. s- 

 tata, or tuberculata. Mouth arched forward, with five 

 papillae; teeth in quincunx, blunt, smooth. Color of back and 

 tail olive brown ; light to white below. From pastinaca, 

 which this species resembles in shape, it is distinguished by the 

 tubercles, by the length and compression of the tail, and absence 

 of all trace of keel or expansion on its upper side. A young 

 specimen measures from snout to tail 13.8, in length of tail 

 30.5, and width of pectorals 17.5 inches. The largest specimen 

 in the collection has a total length of 10 feet 3 inches (Coll. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool. Cambridge Mass.). Common south of Cape Cod. 

 Occasionally found northward. (After Garman) 



Formerly hundreds of individuals were caught annually in 

 Gravesend bay, but now it is seldom seen there. The species 

 will live in captivity several months in the spring and summer. 

 Mit chill records it as occurring on the coast of Long Island. The 

 tail, he states, is 5 feet or more in length. Storer described a 

 specimen 9 feet long. He was informed by Dr Yale that the fish 

 was abundant on the flats in the harbor of Holmes's Hole, Mar- 

 thas Vineyard, in July and August. Near Woods Hole Mass, it 

 is common during summer, appearing early in July. 



The sting ray is much dreaded by fishermen, who say that 

 wounds made by its spines are exceedingly painful and danger- 

 ous, the slime secreted by the fish acting as a poison. 



Subgenus DASYATIS 



29 Dasyatis hastata (De Kay) 



Kit 



Pastinaca hastata, DE KAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 373, pi. 65 ? fig. 214, 1842. 



Trygon hastata STORER, Syn. Fish. N. A. 261, 1846. 



Da-stt>atis hastata GARMAN, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 70, 1883. 



Dasyatis hastata JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 83, 1896. 



fThe sting rays of the subgenus Dasyatis differ from the 

 type centrura in having a narrow keel or expansion on the 

 tail both above and below. 



