False shark ray

The false shark ray (Rhynchorhina mauritaniensis) is a species of fish in the Rhynchobatidae family and the only species in the genus Rhynchorhina.[1] This rare ray is only known from shallow coastal Atlantic waters in Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania.[1][2][3]

False shark ray
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Order:	Rhinopristiformes
Family:	Rhinidae
Genus:	Rhynchorhina Séret & Naylor, 2016
Species:	R. mauritaniensis
Binomial name
Rhynchorhina mauritaniensis Séret & Naylor, 2016

The upperparts of the false shark ray are greyish or greenish-brown and densely covered in white spots.[2] The largest known reliably measured specimen was 2.24 m (7.3 ft) long, but individuals about 2.75 m (9 ft) have been seen.[1] Overall it resembles the African wedgefish (Rhynchobatus luebberti) found in the same region, but it has a blunt rounded snout somewhat like the shark ray or bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) of the Indo-Pacific. The genus name Rhynchorhina (Rhyncho+rhina) is a reference to this "mix" of features.[1]

Although long known by the local Imraguen people, the first record confirmed by scientists was in 1998 and it only received its species description in 2016.[1]

Very little is known about the behavior of the false shark ray, but a 2-metre (6.6 ft) female caught in February had ripe ovocytes and shrimp in the stomach, while another had moray eels in the stomach.[1]

References

1. Séret, B.; G. Naylor (2016). "Rhynchorhina mauritaniensis, a new genus and species of wedgefish from the eastern central Atlantic (Elasmobranchii: Batoidea: Rhinidae)". Zootaxa. 4138 (2): 291–308. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4138.2.4. PMID 27470765.
2. Last; White; de Carvalho; Séret; Stehmann; Naylor, eds. (2016). Rays of the World. CSIRO. p. 76. ISBN 9780643109148.
3. Pollerspöck, J.; N. Straube. "Rhynchorhina mauritaniensis Séret & Naylor, 2016". Shark References. Retrieved 6 July 2017.