FAMILY, VI— MTLIOBATID^. 743 



Genus, 2 — ^tobatis, Mull, and Henle. 

 ^toasodon, Cantor. 



Head distinct from dish : snout with a soft prolongation, internally supported by fm rays. Nasal vahes 

 ■usually distinct, each forming a long flap, or such may be united into one quadrangular flap. Teeth hexagonal, 

 broad, flat, with the lower dental laminoe projecting beyond the upper. Tail very long and whip-like : dorsal fin 

 present near its base, and a serrated spine posterior to it. 



Geographical distribution. — Seas of the tropics. 



Jltobatis narinari, Plate CXCIV, fig. 4. 



Na/rinari, Marcgr. pp. 175, 176 ; Willughbj, p. QQ, tab. c. i, fig. 5. 



Baja narinari, Euphrasen, Vet. Ak. Nya Handl. 1790, xi, p. 217 ; Bl. Schn. p. 361. 



Baja flagellum, Bl. Schn. p. 361, tab. Izziii. 



Baja, Russell, Fish. Vizag. i, p. 6, and Eel tenkee, pi. viii. 



Baja guttata, Shaw, Gen. Zool. v, 2, p. 285, pi. 142. 



Myliobatis narinari, Cuv. Regne. An. ; Benn. in Life of Raffles, p. 694 ; Agass. Poiss. Foss. iii, pi. D. 



.Sjtobatis Inddca, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 321. 



Baja guinqueaculeata, Quoyand Gaim. Voy. IJran. p. 200, pi. xliii, fig. 3. 



Aetobatis narinari. Mull, and Henle, p. 179 ; Bleek. Plag. p. 87, and Beng. p. 82 ; Dumeril, Hist. 

 N. Poiss. i, p. 641 ; Day, Fish. Malabar, p. 280 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 492 ; Klunz. F. Roth. Meer, 1871, p. 686. 



Aetobatis flagellum,M.u[l. and Henle, p. 180 ; Richards. Ich. China, p. 198; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 

 1860, p. 37 ; Dumeril, 1. c. p. 642. 



Myliobatis eeltenhee, Riipp. N. W. Fisch, p. 70, tab. 19, fig. 3 (teeth). 



Goniobatis flagelhtm, Agass. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist, vi, p. 385. 



Goniobatis macroptera, McClell. Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist. 1841, i, p. 60, pi. 2, fig. 1. 



Stoasodon narinari. Cant. Mai. Fish. p. 434; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 149. 



Aetobatis latvrostris, Dumeril, Arch. Mus. x, p. 242, pi. 20, or Hist. Nat. Poiss. i, p. 643 ; Giinther, 

 Trans. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 491. 



Aetobatis laticeps, Gill, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. New York, viii, p. 137. 



JEel-tenkee, Tel. : Cwrrooway tiriki. Tarn. : Ba-ta-oha/rm-dah, Andam. 



The comparative proportions of this fish vary greatly with age : the distance from the mouth to the 

 anus equals about half the width of the disk. Nasal valves in some examples separate, each forming a long 

 flap,* in other examples the valves unite and forming a quadrangular flap the lower edge of which is fringed : 

 the spiracle wider than orbit. Teeth — broad, flat, and in a single row, those in the lower jaw may be angularly bent 

 or nearly straight : the lower dental plate projects beyond that in the upper jaw. Fins — the dorsal arises opposite 

 the base or centre of the ventral, the latter fin being about three times as long as broad. Tail three or four 

 times as long as the body, triangular in shape as far as the spine, which is serrated and situated just behind the 

 termination of the dorsal fin : beyond the spine the tail is compressed ; in this, as well as in some other species 

 there is occasionally a second spine on the caudal a little behind the root of the first. Scales — body smooth. 

 Colours — grayish-olive, sometimes greenish-olive or leaden-gray above, and usually covered from beyond the 

 occiput with numerous dirty- white or bluish spots edged with black : abdominal surface white : tail black. 

 Iris golden-green, teeth greenish-yellow. In the immature the back is of a deep leaden colour, and the spots 

 hardly apparent. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, seas and estuaries of India to the Malay Archipelago, and beyond. Eaten by the 

 natives. Is captured to upwards of 6 feet in width. 



Genus, 3 — Rhinoptbra, Kuhl. 



Mylorina and Micromesus, Gill. 



Head distinct from the disk, hut with a pair of roAjed appendages on the lower edge of the snout. Nasal 

 valves confluent, forming a broad flap. Teeth broad, flat, in five or more rows, the central ones being the broadest. 

 Tail whip-Uke, with a dorsal fin and a serrated spine posterior to it. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical and contiguous seas. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES. 



1. Bhinoptera adspersa. Nine series of teeth in upper jaw, and seven in the lower. Seas of India. 



2. Bhinoptera Javanica. Seven rows of teeth in each jaw, the three central series being much the 

 longest. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



* The protruding angular portion of the dental laminse of the lower jaw appears liable to be broken off, and it is in such 

 examples that it seems that the notch in the united nasal valves is wanting. 



