igog.] N. ANNANDAI.E : Report on the Batoidei. 35 



rounded, not produced, its length from the eyes not much greater than the dis- 

 tance from eye to eye. Eyes very large and prominent. Spiracles narrow, ex- 

 tending along the outer margin of the eyes. 

 Tail considerably longer than the disk, armed with two or more long, slender ser- 

 rated spines and bearing a long, well-developed ventral cutaneous flap and a much 

 shorter dorsal one. 

 Colour. — Dorsal surface pale slate-colour ornamented with a variable number of 

 roimd, bluish, black-edged spots scattered irregularly, and sometimes with smaller 

 black spots. Ventral surface white. The proximal part of the tail rather darker 

 than the ground of the dorsal surface of the disk, without markings ; the distal 

 part boldly banded with black and white. 

 Skin almost naked, sometimes bearing numerous minute rudimentary denticles on the 

 tail and in the middle of the back. A row of large denticles with stout spines 

 directed backwards sometimes present in the mid-dorsal line, but, at any rate in 

 young individuals, not always present. 

 Month. — Straight as a whole ; the jaws distinctly imdulate. The teeth resembling 

 those of P. zugei but with a considerably stouter cusp in the male. The nasal 

 flap straight, fringed, with a longitudinal central groove on the surface. 

 No specimens of this species have been taken by the ' ' Golden Crown ' ' in the 

 northern part of the Bay of Bengal, but a large pair { c? , 9 ) and several smaller speci- 

 mens were captured in February, 1909, off Gopalpur (Madras Coast) in 24 fathoms and 

 a considerable number of specimens of different sizes off the same coast in March. 

 Both P. zugei and the present species have a wide range, the former being distri- 

 buted from the Arabian Sea to Japan, while the latter occurs not only in Japanese 

 waters but also on the East Coast of Africa. 



Genus HYP01.0PHUS, Müller and Henle. 

 Distinguished from Trygon by the form of its tail, jaws and teeth. 



Hypolophus sephen (Eorskâl) . 

 Trygon sephen, Day, Faun. Brit. Ind., Fishes, i, p. 51, figs. 21, 22. 



Size large (adtdt 152 cm. across the disk). 



Disk slightly broader than long, with the pectoral angles obtusely rounded; the broad- 

 est transverse diameter widely separated from the anterior end of the disk. 

 Snout forming an angle greater than a right angle ; not produced. Eyes large 

 and prominent. 



Colour. — Dorsal surface reddish brown in the young, bluish grey in the adult, without 

 spots ; the margins of the fins and the tail (except the base) darker than the centre 

 of the disk. 



Tail. — Longer than disk in normal specimens, with a broad cutaneous flap running along 

 the ventral surface from a point near the insertion of the serrated spine (or spines) 

 for about one quarter of the length of the tail, its distal extremity being widely 

 separated from the tip. Two serrated spines are usually present. 



