{"id":9230,"date":"2013-09-17T14:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-17T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fishconsult.org\/?p=9230"},"modified":"2014-09-15T17:37:56","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T15:37:56","slug":"southern-guitarfish-rhinobatos-percellens-distribution-description-and-biology-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fishconsult.org\/?p=9230","title":{"rendered":"Southern Guitarfish, Rhinobatos percellens (distribution, description and biology) – Video"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit of the video<\/strong>: Glenda V\u00e9lez Calabria (Colombia)<\/p>\n

Description:<\/strong>\u00a0Abdel Rahman El Gamal<\/p>\n

This video has been taken in mundo marino and te mostramos lo que pasa en el fondo, Colombia<\/p>\n

Introduction:<\/b>\u00a0Southern Guitarfish,\u00a0Rhinobatos percellens<\/i>\u00a0is also known as \u201cChola guitarfish\u201d, or \u201cGuitarra chola\u201d and other names. It seems there is commercial fishery for this species which is often captured as bycatch in commercial and artisanal fisheries in some parts of South America. The reason for that is the inferior quality of fish flesh. However, some of caught fish are salted and consumed in some regions. Aquarium trade utilizes a part of southern guitarfish stocks.<\/p>\n

Distribution and habitats:<\/b>\u00a0Southern guitar,\u00a0Rhinobatos percellens<\/i>\u00a0is found in Western Atlantic and Eastern Atlantic. The species lives on shallow and soft bottoms of the continental shelf at depths of 0 \u2013 110 m.<\/p>\n

Description:<\/b>\u00a0The southern guitarfish are characterized by their elongated body as intermediate between those of sharks and rays with a flattened head and trunk and small ray like wings. They have shorter nostrils with no enlarged tubercles on the tip of the snout.\u00a0 The color is olive gray, reddish brown or chocolate brown above; an extensive pale translucent area on either side of rostral ridges. Darker brown spots or blotches on sides. Their lower surface is pale yellowish, greyish or dusky white while the tip of the snout has a more or less conspicuous sooty blotch, either solid or more or less interrupted. The common total length of guitar fish is about 70 cm and can reach to up to 100 cm as a total length.<\/b><\/p>\n

Reproduction:<\/b>\u00a0The southern guitarfish are Ovoviviparous with embryos feeding initially on yolk, and then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus, fat or protein through specialized structures. The mean diameter of the largest oocyte was about 30 mm.\u00a0 The fecundity ranged from two to 13 embryos (mean of five embryos). Total length of born fish is about 20 cm.<\/p>\n

Threats:<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>the species has been placed in the IUCN Red List as \u201cNear Threatened \u2013 NT\u201d. \u00a0The threat is based on the high exploitation level of the species that resulted in the quantities taken as bycatch in an intense fishing of commercial and artisanal fisheries.<\/p>\n

\n

References:<\/b>\u00a0Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), Fish Base, Shark Reference, Science Alerts Social Network, SearchFish.org<\/p>\n