Rhynchobatus Australiae
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''Rhynchobatus australiae'', also called the white-spotted guitarfish, white-spotted wedgefish or bottlenose wedgefish, is a species of
fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
in the
Rhinidae Wedgefishes are rays of the family Rhinidae, comprising eleven species in three genera. Classified in the order Rhinopristiformes along with guitarfishes and sawfishes, they have also been known as giant guitarfishes or sharkfin guitarfishes. T ...
family. It is found from shallow waters to a depth of at least in the
Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
, ranging from the East African coast and the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, the Philippines and Australia. It is part of a
species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
that also includes the giant guitarfish, the broadnose wedgefish and possibly the smoothnose wedgefish.


Anatomy and appearance

''Rhynchobatus australiae'' reaches about in length. Juveniles and young adults are greyish or brownish above with a sparse covering of white spots and a black spot above each
pectoral fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish aquatic locomotion, swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the vertebral column ...
. There are three white spots above each black spot. Large adults are considerably darker, sometimes appearing almost black above, and the spots seen is younger individuals are typically not easily visible. Its tail fin has distinct upper and lower lobes, unlike the fiddler and shovelnose rays, where the lower lobe is reduced. Its snout is acutely pointed, merging into the flat triangular pectoral fins. Gills are on the underside of the head. The first (anterior) dorsal fin is in line with the pelvic fins, and there is a row of thorns along the dorsal midline.


References

Rhynchobatus Taxa named by Gilbert Percy Whitley Fish described in 1939 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rajiformes-stub