igog.] N. ANNANDAI.E : Report on the Batoidei. 13 



i^Back in the adult bearing several rows of regular, compressed bony tubercles, 

 which also surround the anterior margin of the orbits. The ventral lobe of the 

 tail almost equal to the dorsal lobe in the young, relatively smaller in the adult. 

 The posterior dorsal fin smaller than the anterior, which is situated over the pelvic 

 fins. There are two conspicuous ridges on the posterior margin of the spiracle. 

 The jaws have each a single undulation, which is not very deep. The teeth are 

 large, suboval transversely, and bear a single transverse central ridge, which be- 

 comes obsolete as they are worn , the breadth of each tooth is to the length as 5 to 3 

 or 3 to 2 ; the teeth on the central concavity of the upper jaw are smaller than the 

 others. 

 In the young the back is of a rather pale greyish olive-green, which takes a bluish tinge 

 on the eyelids. The lateral and caudal fins and the greater part of the snout are 

 pink. On each ^de, near the centre of the base of the pectoral, there is a large 

 round black spot, which is surrounded by much smaller white spots. Numerous 

 similar white spots are scattered on the sides of the body and a few appear on the 

 pectorals. In older specimens the olive-green becomes darker and greyer, the spots 

 tend to disappear, although perhaps they never become quite obsolete, and the 

 pink changes to grey. 



It is unnecessary to describe this common and well-known species at any great 

 length. It is by far the most abundant species of its family in the catches of the 

 " Golden Crown," whose trawl brings up numerous examples on every trip. The 

 largest specimen I have seen measured 8 ft. 9 inches (258 cm.). It was a female with 

 seven fully formed young ones in one oviduct, the other oviduct being empty and its 

 corresponding ovary containing large eggs. 



The unborn young measured 34 cm. in length and bore yolk-sacs, which were 

 smaller than those of some young ones captured free. In the case of the latter the 

 yolk-sac was as big as a small orange. There does not appear to be any arrangement 

 for supplying the unborn young with maternal nourishment in the case of this species. 

 Day mentions that the young are very common off the Coromandel coast about 

 March ; they are also abundant at the head of the Bay of Bengal in September 

 and October. 



' Rliinobatis halavi (Forskäl). 



Rhinobatus halavi and Rh. obtusus, Gthr., op- cit., pp. 442, 443 ; Rh. halavi, Day, 

 op. cit., p. 43. 



I have not the material on which to base a fresh description of this species, as 

 regards the synonymy of which I merely follow Day. No specimens have been taken 

 by the ' ' Golden Crown ' ' and there are only dried or immature specimens in the 

 Museum. A stuffed female measures 128 cm. in total length, and we have a much 

 smaller one in spirit, as well as several other skins. The short, obtuse snout is charac- 

 teristic. 



The teeth resemble those of Rh. gvamdatus but their transverse ridge is not so 

 strongly convex. 



