igog.] N. Annandale : Report on the Batoidei. 41 



twice as long as high, more than half as long as the inner edge of the pelvic fins ; 

 its anterior border situated nearer the base than the distal end of the pelvic fins. 

 Serrated spine minute or absent. 

 Colour. — In the young the dorsal surface of the disk is of a greenish slate-colour, 

 marked with irregular roundish spots of a dark brown, and with a faint and 

 close reticulation of a paler shade of brown. This reticulation separates closely set 

 roundish areas of the ground colour. As the fish grows, the brown spots enlarge 

 and assume a greenish colour, finally becoming dark olive and occupying the 

 greater part of the surface. The faint reticulation disappears and large spots 

 and blotches of yellowish green are developed. The tail is faintly barred at 

 all ages. The coloration of the adult, therefore, differs from that of the adult 

 P. zonura, so far as the dorsal surface is concerned, in the absence of minute dark 

 dots and in the faint markings of the tail. The ventral surface of the young is 

 white, but in the adult it is marbled and clouded with dark pigment. 

 This species is probably confined to water from 15 to 30 fathoms deep. A con- 

 siderable number of specimens were taken together in about 30 fathoms at the mouth 

 of the Eastern Channel of the river Hughli in February, 1909. Others were taken off 

 the Orissa coast in the autumn of 1908, but never many at a time ; several were taken 

 off the Ganjam coast in from 24 to 27 fathoms in March. 



The species probably is widely distributed in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. 



Family TORPEDINID^. 



Naked Batoidei with a broad, flat, circular or elliptical disk. At least one dorsal 

 fin usually present (absent in one genus). A honeycomb-like electric organ devel- 

 oped between the head and the pectoral fins. 



Two genera of Torpedoes are recorded by Day as occurring in Indian seas, while a 

 third has since been described by Alcock. Two more are here added, one being new 

 and the other represented by a species not hitherto recorded with certainty from the 

 Indian Ocean. The following key wiU serve to separate the Indian genera : — 



I. Two dorsal fins on the tail. 



A. Eyes well developed. 



{a) Spiracles distinctly separated from the eyes . . . . Torpedo. 



(a') Spiracles not distinctly separated from the eyes .. Narcine. 



B. Eyes degenerate. 



{a) Pectoral fins feebly developed . . . . Benthobatis. 

 II. One dorsal fin on the tail. 



A. Pectoral fins moderately well developed .. .. Astrape. 



B. Pectoral fins reduced externally to mere rudiments Bengalichthys. 

 III. No dorsal fin . . . . . . . . . • Temer a. 



I include in this key the genus Temer a because it will probably be found in Indian 

 seas, having been originally taken at Penang. There is a very small specimen (of 



