FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
59 
tance from snout to vent 1.15 to 1.37; snout projecting, apparently longer in females than in males, 
supported by a rather narrow cartilage with a large translucent area on each side, its length 1.45 to 
1.57 in head; preoral length of snout 1.4 to 1.8; width of mouth 2.5 to 2.8; interorbital (bone) 4.8 
to 5.25; eye 4.7 to 5.2 in snout; spiracles immediately behind eyes, slightly crescent-shaped, about 
as long as eyes; nasoral groove extending to mouth; teeth in about 48 rows in each jaw, each tooth 
with a large round or oval base, surmounted by a small pointed cusp on the posterior or newer 
teeth, the anterior or older teeth smooth, without pointed cusps; skin above largely beset with 
small bony prickles, these somewhat enlarged on tip of snout; a row of short, heavy spines on inner 
margins of eyes and spiracles; a few enlarged tubercles opposite median line of back on shoulders; 
a row of short, sharp spines on median line of back, extending from behind head to origin of first 
dorsal fin; tail with a row of enlarged spines on each side and with other prickles larger than those 
on the body; the male somewhat smoother than the female, with a patch of small recurved spines 
on disk opposite eyes and another intramarginal patch at widest part of disk; tail moderate, the 
base depressed, its length 1.9 to 2.25 in total length; dorsal fins 2, placed near the extremity of the 
tail, less than eye’s diameter apart in four specimens examined, an eye’s diameter in one specimen, 
and confluent in another; caudal fin represented by a dermal fold extending around the end of the 
tail; ventral fins long, beginning only a little in advance of the margin of the disk, greatly thickened 
at the base anteriorly, the fin deeply notched; the claspers in the male rather broad, not projecting 
far beyond posterior margins of the ventrals in adults. 
Color varying from brownish to grayish above, with roundish and elongate dark markings on 
disk posterior to snout; lower surface white. 
The foregoing description is based upon six preserved specimens — two males and four females — 
ranging in length from 457 to 672 millimeters (18 to 26V£ inches); others were examined in the 
field. This ray is called “clear-nose” in allusion to the translucent snout and “brier ray” because 
of the numerous spines and prickles that beset the upper surface of the body and tail. This 
species, the sting ray ( Daybatus say), and the sand skate ( Pteroplatea macrura) are about equally 
common in the southern part of Chesapeake Bay. Early in April, in a set of two pound nets in 
Lynnhaven Roads, 7 to 15 brier rays were caught daily; and on May 25, when we again visited 
these nets, the catch was 25, all V/? to 2*/£ feet in length. 
This ray was found to feed chiefly on crustaceans and fish. Two stomachs examined in April 
contained crabs, shrimp, and fish; two examined in May contained shrimp and fish, and three in 
October the following: One had eaten a blue crab (Callinectes) 1 inch long; another a lizard fish 
(Synodus) 8 inches long; and the stomach of the third contained several blue crabs, 1 to 1 }/i inches 
long. The structure of the teeth suggests that mollusks and crustaceans probably form the principal 
foods. 
Habitat . — Cape Cod to Florida; rarely to Cape Ann, Mass. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: “Around the mouth of Chesapeake Bay” (Uhler 
and Lugger, 1876); Cape Charles City, Va. (6) Specimens in collection: Lynnhaven Roads, Va., 
pound nets, June 9, 1916, May 20 and September 27, 1921, and May 25, 1922. Numerous indi- 
viduals also were seen and examined at Ocean View, Va., during the fall of 1922. It also was taken 
at 11 Fish Hawk stations, all made in southern sections of the bay during 1915 and 1916. 
15. Raja stabuliforis Garman. Barn-door skate; Smooth skate. 
Raja Jzvis Mitchil!, Amer. Monthly Mag., II, 1818, p. 327; New York, not of Gronow. Jordan and Evermann, 1890-1300, 
p. 71; Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 189; ed. II, p. 160. 
Raid stabuliforis Garman, 1913, p. 341, pi. 22, fig. 2; pi. 44, figs. 4 to 6. 
Disk broader than long, its width 1.5 in total length of fish, the length of disk 1.25 in its width; 
anterolateral margins slightly double concave; posterolateral margin broadly rounded; snout 
strongly projecting, acute; eyes small; spiracles as large as eyes; mouth large, the width more than 
half the length of the snout; teeth quite blunt in the female, sharper in males, in about 32 to 36 
series in each jaw; upper surface comparatively smooth; tip of snout with small tubercles, and a 
narrow band of similar tubercles along anterolateral margin; small tubercles over the eyes and 
spiracle; a median row of compressed spines beginning on back and extending on tail; a similar row 
on each side of tail. The male, in addition to the armature already described, has a triangular 
patch of large sharp spines on disk opposite eyes, a large area of similar spines situated opposite 
the outer angle of the disk at about the beginning of the outer third of the disk. 
