1412 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Dec. 



snout is above covered with distant tricuspidate scales. On the upper 

 part of the head, back and on the root of the tail they are smooth, 

 hexagonal, with their anterior and posterior margins denticulated and 

 with a shallow cavity in their centre. Three large heart-shaped convex 

 plates, placed longitudinally, appear on the scapular region. Of the 

 three the central one is the largest, the anterior the smallest. The 

 tail is from three to four times the length of the body. As far as the 

 spine it is depressed, trigonal and tapering ; the portion supporting 

 the caudal is compressed and with minute lanceolate scales ; the rest is 

 very attenuated like a whip cord. The spine is situated a little behind 

 the anterior third of the tail ; its length varies from y to J of the tail. 

 The caudal membrane commences beneath the root of the spine and 

 continues beyond the central third of the lower margin of the tail. Its 

 height is less than that of the part of the tail to which it is attached. 

 Single young individuals occur at all seasons in the Straits of Malacca. 



Dimensions. 



From the snout to the mouth, r . . . . If inch. 



From the mouth to the anus, 4f 



Length of the tail, , 26| 



Distance between the inner (anterior) angles of the nostrils, Of 



From the snout to the eyes, 2 



Distance between the eyes, ] g- 



Breadth of the disk, 7# 



Gen. Taeniura, Miiller und Henle, 1837. 



Disk rounded. Tail not much longer than the body, depressed in 

 front of the spine, compressed behind it, with a high inferior fin, 

 which commences from the spine and extends to the apex of the tail. 

 The upper margin of the tail carries frequently a low longer or shorter 

 skinny hem, extending to the apex of the tail. The caudal spine a 

 little in front of the middle of the tail. Nostrils approximated as in 

 Trygon. Teeth flattened, with a transversal protuberance, or pointed. 

 Mouth straight or undulating. Membranous valve behind the upper 

 jaw straight ; that behind the lower jaw without papillae. 



Taeniura lymna, (Forskal.) 



Raja lymna, Forskal: Descr. 17, No. 15. 

 Raja lymna, Linne : Syst. 1511. 



