Guitarfish

Guitarfish= mantarraya
Temporal range: Upper Jurassic–Recent
[1]
Shovelnose guitarfish, Rhinobatos productus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Rajiformes
Family: Rhinobatidae
J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837
Genera

See text.

The guitarfish are a family, Rhinobatidae, of rays. The guitarfish are known for an elongated body with a flattened head and trunk and small ray like wings. The combined range of the various species is tropical, subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. They often travel in large schools.

Contents

Description

Guitarfishes have a body form intermediate between those of sharks and rays. The tail has a typical shark-like form, but in many species the head has a triangular, or guitar-like shape, rather than the disc-shape formed by fusion with the pectoral fin found in other rays.[2]

Classification

Nelson's 2006 Fishes of the World recognized four genera in this family: Aptychotrema, Rhinobatos, Trygonorrhina, and Zapteryx; other taxa that were once placed in Rhinobatidae, such as Platyrhinoidis and Rhina, have since been moved to their own families. Recently, the genus Glaucostegus has again become recognized as distinct from Rhinobatos. The status of Tarsistes is dubious.

References

  1. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2011). "Rhinobatidae" in FishBase. February 2011 version.
  2. ^ Stevens, J. & Last, P.R. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 
  3. ^ Last, White & Fahmi 2006 (2006). "Rhinobatos jimbaranensis and R. penggali, two new shovelnose rays (Batoidea: Rhinobatidae) from eastern Indonesia.". Cybium 30 (3): 262ff.. 
  4. ^ Peter R. Last, Leonard J.V. Compagno and Kazuhiro Nakaya (2004). "Rhinobatos nudidorsalis, a new species of shovelnose ray (Batoidea: Rhinobatidae) from the Mascarene Ridge, central Indian Ocean". Ichthyological Research 51 (2): 153–158. doi:10.1007/s10228-004-0211-0. 
  5. ^ Last, White & Fahmi 2006 (2006). "Rhinobatos jimbaranensis and R. penggali, two new shovelnose rays (Batoidea: Rhinobatidae) from eastern Indonesia.". Cybium 30 (3): 262ff.. 

Further reading