Notes on <I>Raia inornata</I>

(1)

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 73

genus. Gill-rakers^'erysbort. Pseudobraucliiailarge. Gill-membranes

in one specimen united

and

whollyfree fromtheisthmus; inthe others joined as usual in Cyprinidcv.

The

condition in the first specimen is

doubtless abnormal. Pharyngeal bones

and

teeth as in the other species of the genus; the teeth _2, 4-5, 2, slender, hooked, without gnnd- ing surface.

Scales 17-90-9, those on the back

and

bellyrather smaller than the others,those od the breast imbedded. Lateral line very strongly de- curved, itslowest x)oint scarcelyabove theline of insertionof thepec- toral fins.

Dorsaltin inserted at a point

midway

between ey^

and

base of caudal, a little behind the insertion of the ventrals. Caudal short

and

deep, not strongly forked, the lobes equal, the accessory rays not nu- merous. Pectoralsnot large, extendingthree-fifthsthe distancetothe ventrals,whichreach two-thirds the distancetothevent.

Anal

finsmall.

Dorsal raysI, 8^; anal I, 7.

This species reachesa length of nearly 3feet. Itis broughtinto the markets of

San

Francisco in considerable

numbers

in the winter, in

company

withthe closely related

and

still larger species FtycJiochiliis oregonensis {Pt.grandis Ayres),with which species ithas been hitherto confounded.

The

latter species is,

however

at once distinguished

by

itslarger scales, theusual

number

being12-75-0. Ptychochilus rapax Grd.has the larger scales of Ptychochilus oregonensis,

and

the lateral lineisrepresentedaslittledecurved, the scales

more

looselyimbricated

;

and

Pt. lucius Grd., from the Colorado River,is represented as having the scales still smaller than in Pt. harfordi, while ^'Ptychochilus vorax Grd."is not a

member

of this genus at all, but belongs to the group

called-Gila.

We

have

named

thisspecies for]\Ir.

W.

G.

W.

Ilarford, curatorofthe California

Academy

^of^Sciences,

who

has taken

much

interest inthede- velopmentof the ichthyology of California,

and

to

whom

the Kational

Museum

hasbeenindebted for

many

favors.

The

typical specimens, four innumber, are entered as No. 2724C on the

Museum

Eegister.

The

^largest one is about 18 inchesin length, the others alittle smaller.

They

were obtained

by

the writers in the

San

Franciscomarket,

and

were takeninthe SacramentoEiver.

United States National Museum,

January5, 1881.

IVOTE OIV

BAIA

fllVORNATA.

By DAVID

S.

JOIIDAIV and CIIAKH^ES

BI.

GIS.BERT.

Four

species of the genus Raia are

known

from the Pacificcoastof theUnited States.

One

of these ^vas described

by

Girard,under the

name

of

Raia

hinoculata, intheProc. Acad.Nat.Sci. Phila.,1854,p.196,

and

laterunder the

name

of Uraptera hinoculata.

The

description con-

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74 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

tains little tliat is characteristic,

and

the typical example seems tobe

lost.

We

have, howeverj nodoubt thatit

was

based on a

young

indi- vidual of the large skatecalled

by

us,on page252

and

elsewhereinthese Proceedings(Vol.Ill),Raiacooperi.

The

presence of thesinglespineon the medianlineof the back anteriorly, asdescribed

by

Girard, isoneof themostconstant diagnostic charactersofthej'oungofthis siiecies,

and we

have never foundless than three or four such species in thecorres- ponding position inthe species called

by

us hitherto Iictiahinoculata.

The

Rata cooperiofGirard isbasedon a drawing

by

Dr. Cooper,

and

the greatsizeisthe only diagnostic character assignedto it.

As

three ofthe speciesreach a length of but30 inches

and

the othera length of Cfeet,

we

have nodifficulty in

making an

identificationwith the species described byus asRaiacooperi on page252.

Raia

hinoculataofGirard

isthus probablythe

young

of

Rata

cooperi of Girard.

The

largeskate shouldthereforebecalled

Raia

binoculata,while thespeciesdescribed toy

us onpage134 of theProceedingsas

Raia

hinoculata

may

^{receiv^e}the

new name

ofRaiainornata.

Specimens of this species obtained at Santa Barbara represent a

marked

variety, distinguished

by

the small

number

and feebleness of the spines

and

prickles,

and

in thepresence (inthe females) of a

band

of small prickles ontheposteriorpart of thepectorals, parallelwith the edge. Suprocular spines almostobsolete.

Two

orthreeminuteprickles oftenpresent on the

median

line at the shoulders.

A

^series^of^minute

stellatepricklesbeginningnear themiddleof tbe back,becoming hooked spinesonthetail. Lateralcaudal spinesscarcelydeveloped,evenintlie female.

A band of small prickles on the posterior part of the back.

Males almost smooth. Size

and

colorasin R.inornata. This formmay- be

known

as var. inermis.

United States

I!^ational

Museum,

January13, 1881.

OiX TII£:

FISS-TIOBTALITV

^IIV

THE OVl^F OF

ITIEXICO.

By ERNEST IIVGERSOLL.

Sm:

Pursuant toyourverbal suggestion, I

made

it an object, during

my

recentcruise

down

thewestern coast of Floridainthe serviceofthe Superintendent of the Census, to inquire into the so called ''poisoned water-' which

was

supposed to have caused the remarkable mortality

among

the sea-fishes thatoccurred in the

autumn

of 1880. I

am

sorry to be ableto give so

meagre

an account of the matter as follows; but

must beg

excuses on theplea that I

was

too lateto see anyactual de- struction, sincethe cause

had

whollydisax>pearedpreviousto

my

arrival there,

and

alsofromthefactthatI

was

unable tocarry out

my

^intention

of goingto

Key

West, where

most

ofthe fishermenlive

who

^sufleredin- jury,

and who

couldperhaps

have

furnished additional infprmation.