FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
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25. Rhinoptera quadriloba (Le Sueur). Cow-nosed ray; Whipparee. 
Raia quadriloba Le Sueur, Jouru., Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., I, 1817, p. 44, with plate; New Jersey. 
Rhinoptera quadriloba Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 184; ed. II, p. 156; Bean, 1891, p. 94; Garman, 1913, p. 444, pi. 37 
figs. 1 to 5. 
Rhinoptera bonasus Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 90. 
Disk about one-third broader than long; the tail very slender, less than twice as long as the 
disk; head short, as broad as long; snout deeply indented anteriorly between the rostral fins; 
teeth in pavement, mostly hexagonal, in seven to nine rows, the median row in each jaw the widest, 
the functioning teeth deeply pitted; skin smooth; one or two serrated spines immediately behind 
the dorsal fin; origin of dorsal a little behind the end of the ventral bases, the fin small, its lower 
angle sharp; caudal fin wanting; ventral fins more than half as wide as long, the posterior margins 
convex; pectoral fins longer than broad, the outer angles acute, the anterior margins nearly straight, 
the posterior margins broadly convex. 
Color brownish above, pale underneath, with more or less brownish toward the outer angles of 
pectoral. 
This ray was not seen during the present investigations, and although previously recorded from 
Chesapeake Bay it is evidently very rare. The foregoing description is based upon published 
accounts of the species. This ray is readily recognized by the broad, emarginate snout, the lateral 
eyes, and whiplike tail. 
The following information concerning the species is submitted by Smith (1907, p. 47): “The 
species reaches a large size, some examples observed in Florida being 7 feet wide. It feeds largely 
on mollusks, which it crushes with its powerful paired jaws; the razor clam and the oyster are favorite 
foods. The young, numbering two or three, are born in spring and summer and are very active 
from birth. The stout, barbed spine is usually covered with mucus, and the wounds which it inflicts 
are painful and often dangerous.” 
Habitat. — Nantucket, Mass., to Florida. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: “Near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay” (Uhler 
and Lugger, 1876) and Cape Charles City, Va. ( b ) Specimens in the present collection: None. 
Family XV. — MOBULID/E. The sea devils 
Head, body, and pectorals forming a subrhomboid disk, broader than long; head broad and 
flat, bearing cephalic fins or processes, developed as two long hornlike appendages, separate from 
the pectorals; mouth large, transverse, terminal or inferior; teeth small, numerous, in pavement; 
tail long, whiplike, with a single dorsal fin at its base and with or without a serrated spine; eyes 
lateral; skin more or less rough; ventrals small, between the pectorals. 
Some of the members of this family reach an enormous size. It is said that individuals have 
been taken which were 20 feet wide and weighed more than 4 tons. 
19. Genus MANTA Bancroft. The devilfish 
Disk broader than long, its exterior angles acute, the posterior margins concave; head broad, 
flat, truncate; cephalic processes long, turned forward and inward; mouth very wide, terminal; 
teeth on lower jaw only, very small, in numerous rows; skin rough, with small tubercles; tail 
long, whiplike; a small dorsal fin over the ventrals. 
26. Manta birostris (Walbaum). Devilfish. 
Raia birostris, Walbaum, Artedi Piscium, 1792, p. 535. 
Ceratoptera vampyrus Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 185; ed. II, p. 157. 
Manta birostris Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 92, PI. XVIII, fig. 39; Garman, 1913, p. 453. 
“Disk nearly twice as wide as long; tail as long as the body, including the rostral fins. Pec- 
torals falciform, acute angles, anterior margin convex, posterior concave. Teeth minute, rasplike, 
on the lower jaw only, occupying the entire width of the jaw, in about 100 rows separated by inter- 
spaces (in the young). Base of the dorsal extending forward a little in front of the ends of the 
bases of the pectorals and backward to about the middle of the free inner margin of the same fins. 
Ventrals small, hind margins rounded, not reaching to the ends of the pectorals. Body and tail 
rough. * * * Back brown, darkening with age; white underneath.” (Garman, 1913.) 
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