Rhinobatos ocellatus (Speckled guitarfish)

Norman, 1926

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii > Batoidei > Rajiformes > Rhinobatoidei > Rhinobatidae

Rhinobatos ocellatus (Speckled guitarfish) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A flattened guitarfish with a narrow wedge-shaped snout and pectoral disk, upper surface brown with numerous small blue-grey eye-spots ringed with dark brown.

Size

To 80 cm.

Range

East coast, off Bird Island in Algoa Bay. Endemic.

Habitat

Offshore at about 60 m.

Biology

Unknown. Rare, only three specimens known, more wanted.

Human Impact

Probably caught by trawlers.

Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert and Malcolm J. Smale