HISTORY OF THE PISHES OP MASSACHUSETTS. 246 



Lengtli of specimen here described, a male, from the snout to the commencement of 

 the tail three feet and a half; from the snout to the end of the tail, nine feet 



Length, five to nine feet, 



Bemarks, Previous to the'^publication of my " Eeport on the Fishes of Massachusetts/' 

 I was aware that a species of sting-ray inhabited our waters. Thus, Dr. Yale, then of 

 Holmes Hole, wrote me : ^^ I have seen frequently in this harbor and have assisted in tak- 

 ing them ; but, owing to their poisonous nature when w^ounded by their sting, we have 

 been rather cautious about taking them into the boats, so that we seldom see one on 

 * shore. One or two individuals in this vicinity have come well nigh losing their lives by 

 a wound from them. In July and August they are abundant on the flats in the harbor 

 here." When captured they are taken by the harpoon. In October, 1840, 1 received 

 from Dr. Yale the head and tail of a species, which I supposed to be Mitchill's Eaia cen- 

 troura, — and afterwards another tail of this species was sent me from Holmes Hole. In 

 September, 1857; my friend E. W. Carpenter, M. D., of Chatham, Cape Cod, sent me the 

 fine specimen from that place which has enabled me to present the above description 

 and accompanying figure. 



Massachusetts, Stoeer. Connecticut, Linslet. New York, Mitchill. 



GEIS^US III. MYLIOBATIS. Bum. 



Head projecting from the pectorals, and the latter more broad transversely than in the 

 other Eays, which gives them somewhat the appearance of a bird of prey with the wings 

 extended, and has caused them to be compared to the eagle. Their jaws are furnished 

 with broad, flat teeth, arranged like the squares of a pavement, and of different propor- 

 tions, according to the species ; their tail, extremely long, is terminated in a point, and is 

 armed like that of a trygon, with a strong spine, serrated on both sides, and has above, 

 toward its base, in front of the spine, a small dorsal. Sometimes there are two or more 

 spines. 



Myliobatis acuta, Ayres, 



The Smooth-tailed Sting-Bay. 

 (Plate XXXIX. I'iG. 4.) 



Mi/Kohatis hispinosus, Storee, Proceed. Bost. Soc Nat. Hist. 



'* " '' Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. iv. p. 187. 



" " " Ayees, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. iy. p. 290, pi. 13, fig. 1. 



Myliobatis acuta, Linslet, Cat. of Fishes of ConneeticTit, Silliman, Joum. 

 " Storee, Synopsis. 



Color. The whole body and head above, reddish brown ; tail lighter at the base, but 

 nearly black toward the tip ; beneath, whitish. 



