Guitarfish Family Photographs, and Information – Rhinobatidae

The Guitarfish Family – Rhinobatidae

There are currently EIGHT members of the Guitarfish or Rhinobatidae Family, one from the Atlantic Ocean and seven from  the Pacific Ocean, presented in this website:

FROM THE ATLANTIC (1):

Atlantic Guitarfish
Pseudobatos lentininosus

FROM THE PACIFIC (7):

Banded Guitarfish, Zapteryx exasperate

Gorgona Guitarfish, Pseudobatos prahli

Pacific Guitarfish
Pseudobatos planiceps

Shovelnose Guitarfish
Pseudobatos productus

Speckled Guitarfish
Pseudobatos glaucostigma

Whitesnout Guitarfish
Pseudobatos leucorhynchus

Witch Guitarfish, Zapteryx xyster

The Guitarfish or Rhinobatidae Family has forty-five global species that are found in seven genera, of which nine are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic Ocean and seven in the Pacific Ocean. They are known collectively in Mexico as guitarras. They are marine fish found in shallow and deep waters of all temperate and tropical seas.

The Guitarfish are small to moderately-sized fish ranging in size from 50 cm (20 inches) to 280 cm (9 feet 2 inches) in length, however, the majority are less than 1 m (3 feet 3 inches). They have large triangular-shaped flattened heads that are fused with the pectoral fins and taper to a pointed or narrowly rounded elongated snout. Their eyes and spiracles are on the upper surface; their small mouth with small molariform teeth, large nostrils, and gill slits are on their blind side. Their body is elongated with a pair of equal size and relatively large dorsal fins on the top of their large thick tail. Their first dorsal fin originates behind their pelvic fins which have a single and moderately expanded lobe. Their caudal fin lacks a lower lobe.

The Guitarfish are found over and within soft sandy and muddy bottoms where they can bury themselves while resting. They feed on benthic invertebrates and small fish. Reproduction is viviparous via yolk sac with litter sizes ranging from 4 to 28; reproduction cycles require about a year. The Guitarfish, in general, are poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Guitarfish are caught primarily as a by-catch of benthic fisheries. At present five species are considered Near-Threatened, nine are considered Vulnerable, one Critically Endangered and two as Endangered. The vast majority of catches are returned to the sea with unknown survival rates but some are retained and made into fish meal.