White-spotted guitarfish

Rhynchobatus australiae

"Rhynchobatus australiae" is a species of fish in the Rhinidae family. It is found from shallow waters to a depth of at least 60 m in the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the East African coast and the Red Sea, to Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia. It is part of a species complex that also includes the giant guitarfish, the broadnose wedgefish and possibly the smoothnose wedgefish.
White Spotted-Guitarfish The White-Spotted Guitarfish is also known as Guitar Shark or White-Spotted Wedgefish. They have a odd shaped pointed head, short and wide pectoral fins. This one was around 2 meters long. This Guitar Shark was one of my wish-list, have seen them in Aquarium and dead in the fish market recently back in my home town Penang, but it was more meaningful to see and swim with them in the ocean. Fish,Guitarfish,Guitarshark,Maldives,Male,Rhynchobatus australiae,Rhyncobatus australiae

Appearance

"R. australiae" reaches about 3 m 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. 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.

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Status: Vulnerable
EX EW CR EN VU NT LC
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionChordata
ClassChondrichthyes
OrderRhinopristiformes
FamilyRhinidae
GenusRhynchobatus
SpeciesR. australiae
Photographed in
Maldives