66 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
A single (male) specimen with a disk 15 inches in length is present in the Chesapeake Bay 
collection. Nothing distinctive concerning food and reproduction can be said of this species. 
Habitat. — Crisfield, Md., to Brazil. 
Chesapeake localities. — ■( a ) Previous record: None. (6) Specimen in collection: Crisfield, Md., 
hook and line, September 15, 1921. 
20. Dasyatis say (Le Sueur). Sting ray; Stingaree. 
Raid say Le Sueur, Journ., Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., I, 1817, p. 42, with plate; New Jersey. 
Dasyatis say, Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 86. 
Dasyhalus say, Garman. 1913, p. 306. 
Disk a little broader than long, the anterolateral margins nearly straight, meeting anteriorly 
in an obtuse angle of about 120°, the posterolateral margins broadly convex, the posterior angles 
rounded, length of disk 1.06 to 1.13 in its width; head to first gill slit 3.4 to 3.65 in width of disk; 
distance from snout to vent 1.27 to 1.32; snout 1.4 to 1.77 in head; preoral length of snout 1.6 to 1.75; 
width of mouth 3.2 to 3.75; interorbital (bone) 2.75 to 3.35; eye, 2.9 to 3.85 in snout; spiracles 
immediately behind eyes, elliptical, as long as eye; nasorial groove extending to mouth; teeth arranged 
in pavement, those of the male with an acuminate tip, those of the female smooth; 3 large papillae 
at base of lower jaw, behind the teeth and a smaller one on each side back of the outer angle of the 
teeth; skin perfectly smooth in the young, large individuals with a row of short, blunt spines on 
median line of back, and sometimes one or two on each shoulder, the tail with spinules; tail long, 
slender, depressed anteriorly, round and whiplike posteriorly, bearing one or two long, sharply 
serrated spines, with a short cutaneous fold behind the spine above and a larger one below; tail 
1.65 to 1.8 in total length; ventral fins broadly rounded posteriorly, not reaching far beyond end of 
disk. 
Color grayish to brownish above, white below; the distal part of tail and the cutaneous folds 
on it black. 
Eight male specimens with disks ranging in width from 230 to 290 millimeters (9 to 11.5 
inches) are at hand and form the basis for the foregoing description. 
The stomachs examined were void of recognizable foods. The teeth evidently are constructed 
for crushing hard objects, and Smith (1907, p. 45) says of this species, “It feeds largely on shell- 
fish.’’ Fish probably form a very small part of its diet. It is worthy of mention in this connection 
that although the individuals at hand were taken from a pound net, in which fish were easily avail- 
able, they had not recently fed on them. No determination has been made as to whether or not a 
difference in the foods sought by the male and female (as suggested by the difference in the structure 
of the teeth) exists. 
The sting ray appears to be common in the southern parts of Chesapeake Bay and at times 
even abundant. “Numerous and troublesome.” (Moseley, 1877, p. 9.) In 1921 this ray was 
taken in large numbers in pound nets in Lynnhaven Roads, Va., during the latter part of September 
and early in October, as many as 40 individuals having been seen in one net at one time. The 
rays at this time probably were on their southward migration from the feeding grounds in the upper 
stretches of the bay. A southward migration of this species has been noted by observers elsewhere 
on the Atlantic coast. 
The tail is used as a whip, and with the serrated spine the ray sometimes inflicts very painful 
wounds in the hands and feet of fishermen, who are generally of the opinion that a venom is injected 
with the spine. The difficulty experienced in healing such a wound, however, undoubtedly is due to 
septic infection. 
Habitat . — New York to Brazil. 
Chesapeake localities. — -(a) Previous records: None. (6) Specimens in collections: Lynn- 
haven Roads, Va., pound nets, June 9, 1916, and September 26, 1921. Also seined at Cape Charles, 
Va., Pday 21, 1922, and observed numerous times in pound nets situated between Ocean View and 
Cape Henry. 
