Butterfly ray

The butterfly rays are a family, Gymnuridae, of rays. They are characterized by an extremely broad disc and a very short tail.

Classification

There are fourteen species in two genera:

• Genus Aetoplatea
• Tentacled butterfly ray, Aetoplatea tentaculata Müller & Henle, 1841.
• Zonetail butterfly ray, Aetoplatea zonura Bleeker, 1852.
• Genus Gymnura
• Gymnura afuerae (Hildebrand, 1946).
• Spiny butterfly ray, Gymnura altavela (Linnaeus, 1758).
• Australian butterfly ray, Gymnura australis (Ramsay & Ogilby, 1886).
• Twin-spot butterfly ray, Gymnura bimaculata (Norman, 1925).
• Longsnout butterfly ray, Gymnura crebripunctata (Peters, 1869).
• Gymnura crooki Fowler, 1934.
• Madeira butterfly ray, Gymnura hirundo (Lowe, 1843).
• Japanese butterfly ray, Gymnura japonica (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850).
• California butterfly ray, Gymnura marmorata (Cooper, 1864).
• Smooth butterfly ray, Gymnura micrura (Bloch & Schneider, 1801).
• Backwater butterfly ray, Gymnura natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911).
• Longtail butterfly ray, Gymnura poecilura (Shaw, 1804).

References