The broadnose wedgefish (''Rhynchobatus springeri'') 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 in coastal and estuarine habitats in southeast Asia, where it is documented from

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

.Compagno, L.J.V. and P.R. Last (2010). ''A new species of wedgefish, Rhynchobatus springeri (Rhynchobatoidei, Rhynchobatidae), from the Western Pacific.'' 77-88 pp. in: Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J., eds.: Descriptions of new sharks and rays from Borneo. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper no. 32. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

. This is a medium-sized species of '' Rhynchobatus'', which reaches a maximum length of about .

Etymology

The ray is named in honor of

Stewart Springer Stewart Springer (5 June 190623 August 1991) was an American ichthyologist and herpetologist. He was an expert on shark behavior, classification (taxonomy), and population distribution. More than 35 species of sharks, skates, rays, and other cr ...

(5 June 1906 – 23 August 1991), because of his contributions to the systematics of ''Rhynchobatus''.

References

Rhynchobatus Marine fish of Southeast Asia Taxa named by Leonard Compagno Taxa named by Peter R. Last Fish described in 2010 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rajiformes-stub