Rhinoptera
Genus of cartilaginous fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rhinoptera is a genus of ray commonly known as the cownose rays.[2] This genus is the only member of the family Rhinopteridae.
| Rhinoptera Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Rhinoptera steindachneri | |
Scientific 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 | |
These rays feed on mollusks and various other benthic prey.[3]
Their low fecundity rate and late maturity makes them susceptible to overfishing.[3] All species of this genus are included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened species.[3]
Species
There are currently 8 recognized extant (living) species in this genus:[2]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Rhinoptera adspersa J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841 (rough cownose ray) | Indo-West Pacific off India, Malaysia, and the East Indies. | |
.jpg) | 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. |
.jpg) | 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) | |
 | 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:
- †Rhinoptera prisca Woodward, 1907
- †Rhinoptera rasilis Böhm, 1926
- †Rhinoptera raeburni White, 1934
- †Rhinoptera schultzi Hiden, 1995
- †Rhinoptera sherborni White, 1926
- †Rhinoptera smithii Jordan & Beal, 1913
- †Rhinoptera studeri Agassiz, 1843
- †Rhinoptera woodwardi Agassiz, 1843
