Rhinoptera

Rhinoptera
Temporal range: Thanetian–recent
Rhinoptera steindachneri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Division: Batomorphi
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Rhinopteridae
D. S. Jordan & Evermann, 1896
Genus: Rhinoptera
van Hasselt, 1824
Type species
Myliobatis marginata
Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1817

Rhinoptera is a genus of ray commonly known as the cownose rays. This genus is the only member of the family Rhinopteridae.

These rays feed on mollusks and various other benthic prey.

Their low fecundity rate and late maturity makes them susceptible to overfishing. All species of this genus are included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened species.

Species

There are currently 7 recognized extant (living) species in this genus:

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Rhinoptera bonasus (Mitchill, 1815) (cownose ray)western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England to southern Brazil
Rhinoptera brasiliensis J. P. Müller, 1836 (Brazilian cownose ray)southern tip of Brazil to western Florida.
Rhinoptera javanica J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841 (flapnose ray)Indo-Pacific off China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam and possibly Australia
Rhinoptera jayakari Boulenger, 1895 (Oman cownose ray)from South Africa to the Philippines; north to Ryukyu Is. and south to eastern Indonesia.
Rhinoptera marginata (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817) (Lusitanian cownose ray)Eastern Atlantic
Rhinoptera neglecta J. D. Ogilby, 1912 (Australian cownose ray)Western Pacific Ocean from Queensland to New South Wales in Australia.
Rhinoptera steindachneri Evermann & O. P. Jenkins, 1891 (Pacific cownose ray)East Pacific along the coast of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru.

There are several other extinct species that only are known from fossil remains:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sepkoski, J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2008-02-23.
  2. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Rhinoptera". FishBase. April 2015 version.
  3. 1 2 3 Tagliafico, Alejandro; Butcher, Paul A.; Colefax, Andrew P.; Clark, Graeme F.; Kelaher, Brendan P. (2020). "Variation in cownose ray abundance and group size on the central east coast of Australia". Journal of Fish Biology. 96 (2): 427–433. doi:10.1111/jfb.14219. ISSN 1095-8649.