Glaucostegus
| Glaucostegus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Giant guitarfish (G. typus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Rhinopristiformes |
| Family: | Glaucostegidae Last, Séret & Naylor, 2016 |
| Genus: | Glaucostegus Bonaparte, 1846 |
Glaucostegus, also known as giant guitarfishes, is a genus of large Indo-Pacific rays, with a single species, Glaucostegus cemiculus, in the East Atlantic, and Mediterranean.[1] They were formerly classified in the family Rhinobatidae but are now recognized as a distinct family, Glaucostegidae.[2]
Their upperparts are uniform pale yellowish, brownish or greyish, and the nose is pale. Most are large, reaching 1.7–3 m (5.6–9.8 ft) in length depending on the exact species involved, except for the small G. obtusus that is less than 1 m (3.3 ft).[1]
Species
[edit]There are nine recognized species, all of which are classified as critically endangered:[2][3]
- Glaucostegus cemiculus (Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1817) (Blackchin guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus granulatus (Cuvier, 1829) (Sharpnose guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus halavi (Fabricius 1775) (Halavi guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus microphthalmus (Teng, 1959) (Smalleyed guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus obtusus (Müller & Henle, 1841) (Widenose guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus spinosus (Günther, 1870) (Spiny guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus thouin (Anonymous [Lacépède], 1798) (Clubnose guitarfish/Thouin ray)
- Glaucostegus typus (Anonymous [E. T. Bennett], 1830) (Giant guitarfish)
- Glaucostegus younholeei (Habib & Islam, 2021) (Bangladeshi guitarfish)
References
[edit]- 1 2 Last; White; de Carvalho; Séret; Stehmann; Naylor, eds. (2016). Rays of the World. CSIRO. pp. 110–116. ISBN 9780643109148.
- 1 2 Last, P.R.; Séret, B.; Naylor, G.J.P. (2016). "A new species of guitarfish, Rhinobatos borneensis sp. nov. with a redefinition of the family-level classification in the order Rhinopristiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea)". Zootaxa. 4117 (4): 451–475. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4117.4.1. PMID 27395187.
- ↑ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Glaucostegus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
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