FAMILY, V— TETGONID^. 741 



Genus, 4 — Pteeoplatea, Miill. and Eenle. 



^toplatea, Miill. and Henle. 



BodAj at least twice as hroad as long .- tail thm, generally shorter than the body, with m without a 

 momentary fin, but having a serrated spine : spi/racles with or without a tentacle : nasal valves confluent, and 

 forming a quadrangular flap. No papilla at bottom of the mouth. Teeth with from one to three cusps. Pectoral 

 fins vmited in front. Shin smooth or tubercular. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical and temperate seas. 



A. — Tail finless. 



Pteroplatea micrura, Plate CXCIV, fig. 2. 



Baja micrwra, Bl. Sctn. p. 360. 



Baja poBcilwra, Shaw, Gen. Zool. v, 2, p. 291. 



Baja, Russell, Pish. Vlzag. i, p. 4, and Tenhee hmsul, pi. vi. 



Pastinaca hicnsul, Cuvier, Rfegn. Anim. 



Trygon poecilwrus, Bennett, Life of Sir S. Raffles, p. 694. 



Pastinaca annulata, Swainson, Pislles, ii, p. 319. 



Pteroplatea micrwra, MiiU. and Henle, Plagios. p. 169 ; Richards. Ich. China, p. 197 ; Cantor, Catal. Mai. 

 Pish. p. 427 ; Bleeker, Plagios. p. 76, and Beng. p. 82 ; Dumeril, Hist. Nat. Poiss. i, p. 613 ; Day, Pish. 

 Mai. p. 278 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 487. 



Pteroplatea anrmlata, Swainson, Pishes, ii, p. 319. 



Basyatis microura, Blyth, J. A. S. of Beng. 1860, p. 37. 



Peroom tiriki, Tamil. : Tappu cooU, Tel. 



Disk ahout twice as wide as long : tail as long as disk in young, but shorter in adults. No tentacle to 

 spiracle. Teeth — ^with a single pointed cusp. Fins — one or two small spines on caudal fin. Skin smooth. 

 Colours — Reddish-brown : tail annulated with white and brown : superiorly in the centre of each light ring, 

 there is generally a brown spot. The young are covered all over with small brown spots. A figure exists 

 amongst Sir Walter Elliot's drawings of Madras fish of an example covered all over with light round spots. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago, and beyond. Jerdon obtained one in which the disk 

 was 6 feet across and 3 feet long. 



