THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
65 
Genus 7. DASYATIS Rafinesque. 
Disk oval, Hat, with rounded angles. Tail very long and slender, whip-like, without fin, hut 
often with 1 or 2 vertical membranous folds; a strong, serrated spine toward base of tail. Skin more 
or less spinous or prickly, rarely smooth. Teeth small, paved; a few papillae usually present in mouth 
behind lower jaw. 
This genus contains about 30 species; sting rays of large size abundant in warm seas. Many of 
the spinous species are nearly or quite smooth when young, becoming rough with age. Some of our 
species are yet imperfectly known and much of the synonymy is uncertain. 
Hemitrygon: 
a. Tail with a keel or wing-like expansion below only; adult with stout bucklers on back and tail; tail rough, more 
than twice length of disk centrum 
Dasyatis: 
aa. Tail with a narrow keel or expansion both above and below. 
b. Tail simply keeled above, with a wing-like expansion below. 
c. Shoulder with 3 series of tubercles; tail less than twice length of disk hastata, 8 
cc. Shoulder with fewer than 3 series of tubercles. 
cl. Tail round, more than twice disk; back with strong tubercles; snout sharp gymnura 
bb. Tail more or less compressed, with a wing-like expansion above, a larger one below. 
e. Skin more or less prickly in adult, with a median series of tubercles on back sabina 
ee. Skin nearly or quite smooth in adult; median line of back not prickly or with but one spine say , 9 
8. Dasyatis hastata (DeKay). Sting Ray; “ Raya 
Disk quadrangular, about one-fourth wider than long; anterior margins nearly straight, meeting 
in a blunt angle on end of snout, curved near outer angle to meet slightly convex posterior margins; 
inner border convex; outer and hinder angles rounded. Yentrals almost entirely covered by pecto- 
rals, their hinder margins convex. Tail more than one and one-half times length of disk, low-keeled 
on upper side, a long, broad, membranous expansion below, roughened with small asperities; one or 
more serrated spines. Body smooth in young; very old with scattered, small asperities; a row of 
narrow compressed tubercles along middle of back and on base of tail; points of tubercles depressed and 
directed backward. On each shoulder, parallel with median row, is a shorter row, its length varying 
according to age. Mouth with 3 papillae. Jaws with more curvature than those of IX centrura and less 
than those of D. sabina; young without tubercles. Color, bluish or olivaceous-brown, pale below. 
West Indies to Brazil; north to Florida. One female obtained at Hucares, whose length (of disk) 
is 11.25 inches; tail, 15.5 inches; width of disk, 14.5 inches; a row of 12 spines along middle line of 
back and a shorter lateral row of 2 or 3 spines on each side. 
Trygon hastata DeKay, New York Fauna: Fishes, 373, pi. 65, fig. 214, 1842, Rhode Island. 
Dasyatis hastata , Jordan & Evermann, l.c.,83, 1896. 
9. Dasyatis say (Le Sueur). Southern Sting Ray; “Raya.” 
Disk quadrangular, one-sixth wider than long, anterior margins nearly straight, posterior and 
inner borders convex, outer and posterior angles rounded. Snout not protruding beyond lines of 
margins. Yentrals rounded. Tail strong, rather more than one and one-half times length of disk, 
with a strong serrated spine, bearing a short, low, cutaneous expansion behind spine on upper side, 
and a longer, little wider one below, ending nearly opposite. Upper jaw undulated, lower prominent 
in middle. Teeth small, smooth in young and females, sharp in adult males; 3 papillae at bottom of 
mouth, and 1 at each side. Body and tail smooth. 
Color, olive-brown in adult, reddish or yellowish in young; lower surface whitish. 
This species closely resembles the European 1). pastinaca. In I). say the anterior margins form 
a more blunt angle at end of snout, which is less prominent at apex; outer and posterior extremities 
of pectoral rounder, posterior margin more convex, disk broader toward ventrals, and tail longer; in 
D. pastinaca the lateral and hinder angles of pectoral and lateral angle of ventral are marked by blunted 
corners; a single small, rounded tubercle on middle of back. 
This ray is found from Carolina to Brazil. It is quite common in Florida, and is occasionally 
taken as far northward as New York. Not obtained by us, but given on authority of Poey. 
Raja say Le Sueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1, 1817,42, New Jersey. 
? Trygon sayi, Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquena, 350, 1881; Stahl, 1. c., 81 and 167, 1883. 
Dasyatis say, Jordan 6c Evermann, 1. c., 86, 1896. 
F. C. B. 1900—5 
