Garman.] I 176 [November 4, 



pectorals; and the fourth is the width across the "widest portion. 

 For ocellata the lowest number of rows of teeth found is given; for 

 the others an average of all the counts. The variation from this 

 average is indicated in the description. In the accompanying wood- 

 cut comparative outline figures are given of the several species of our 

 coast. 



SYNOPSIS. 



Rajee with the outline anterior to the spiracles 1 

 rounded, not forming an angle ; 



rows of teeth J| 1. erinacea. 



rows of teeth 4| % 2. ocellata. 



without ocellas. 2a. var. diapliana 



forming an angle 

 obtuse; 



rows of .teeth -|-| 3. radiata. 



acute : 



rows of teeth |-| 4. eglanteria. 



much produced, blunt; 



rows of teeth ff 5. Icevis. 



1. Kaja erinacea. 

 Raja eglanteria Lesueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci., Yol. IV, pt. i, p. 103, 



1824. 

 Raja erinacea Mitch ill, Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. ix, p. 290, pi. 6, 6, 



1825. — DeKay, New York Fauna, pt. in, p. 372, pi. 78, fig. 246, 



1842. — Storer, Synopsis of the Fishes of North America, p. 259, 



1846. 

 Raja eglanteria Storer, Synopsis of the Fishes of North America, 



p. 260, 1846.— Dumeril, Elasmobranehs, Tom. i, pt. n, p. 532, 



1870.— Gun ther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., Yol. vm, p. 462, 1870. 



This is the smallest and most common of our skates. In shape it is 

 rhomboid, with all the angles rounded. With the exception of a 

 small portion of the anterior, opposite the spiracles, the outline of 

 the pectoral is convex; the indentation in this place is less marked in 

 the females than in the males. There is a slight rounded projection 

 at the end of the muzzle. The spines are largest on the anterior 

 extensions of the pectorals, where they are close-set, strong, laterally 

 compressed, and hooked backward. Smaller ones are scattered over 

 the head, above the spiracles, above and in front of the eyes, on the 



1 See wood-cut, preceding page. 



