38 FISHES OF NOETH CAROLINA. 



12. SQUATINA SQUATINA(Linn8eus). 



"Nurse-fish."; "Jakie"; Angel-fish.; Monk-fish. 



Squalus squatina Linnseus, Systema Naturae, ed. x, 233, 1758; Europe. 

 SquaUna squaiina, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 58. 



Diagnosis. — ^Body broad, flat-, the length about 2.5 times width; snout small, sharp, 

 separated; eyes small; skin with small prickles, most evident on middle line of back; caudal 

 fin triangular; dorsal fins short and high. Color: above ashy gray, with brownish blotches; 

 beneath white. 



This ray-like shark is found in all warm seas. On our east coast it ranges 

 from Florida to Cape Cod, but is not common. It has not heretofore been 

 recorded from North Carolina, although apparently to be met with regularly. 

 On April 22, 1904, the writer observed an example 2.5 feet long at Cape Lookout, 

 where it had been caught in a deep-water gill net the day before; the local fisher- 

 men, who call the fish "nurse-fish" and "jakie", state that they catch a number 

 every season, some of them 4 to 5 feet long. The species is often troublesome, 

 getting snarled in the nets or eating other fish caught therein; it also bites the 

 fishermen if they are not wary. The example seen by the writer contained frag- 

 ments of fish and bivalve shells. 



Order BATOIDEA. The Skates and Rays. 



These fishes inhabit salt water, and are of moderate or large size. They are 

 chiefly bottom-loving, and some are found at considerable depths. Reproduc- 

 tion is by means of large, encapsuled eggs, few in number, which are fertilised 

 internally and may undergo considerable development before being laid. 

 These fishes are of little direct economic value, being rarely eaten or otherwise 

 utilized in America, although of some importance in Europe and Asia. All of the 

 7 families found in North America are represented in the state; they fall into 2 

 divisions, based on the character of the tail. 



Key to the families of skates and rays found in North Carolina waters. 



i. Tail comparatively thick, without a serrated erectile spine; 2 dorsal fins and usually a caudal 

 fin. 

 a. Snout flat, produced, with a series of long teeth on each side. . . .Peistid^b (sa;w-fishes). 

 aa. Snout not saw-hke. 



&. Electric organs present; skin smooth Narcobatid^ (electric rays). 



66. Electric organs absent; skin not smooth. 



c. Disc-hke pectoral fins extending to snout, abruptly contracted behind; tail dis- 

 tinct ' Rajid^ (skates). 



cc. Disc-like pectoral fins not extending as far as snout, not abruptly contracted. 



behind but passing gradually into the tail Rhinobatid^ (guitar-fishes) 



a. Tail comparatively slender, usually with a serrated spine on its upper surface; dorsal fin 

 single or absent. 



d. Pectoral fins united around the snout DASYATina; (sting rays). 



dd. Pectoral fins forming detached hom-like processes (''cephalic fins") anteriorly. 



e. Teeth few and large Myliobatid^ (eagle rays). 



ee. Teeth numerous, very small, wanting in upper jaw Mantid.^; (devil-fishes). 



Family PRISTID^. The Saw-fishes. 

 Huge, powerful, shark-like rays characterized by a long, broad, depressed 



