the blastobasidae are a family of moths in the superfamily gelechioidea .

its species can be found almost anywhere in the world , though in some places they are not native but introduced by humans .

in some arrangements , these moths are included in the case-bearer family ( coleophoridae ) as subfamily blastobasinae .

the symmocidae are sometimes included in the blastobasidae ( particularly if both are included in coleophoridae ) as subfamily or tribe .

in addition , the group around holcocera is often separated as subfamily holcocerinae ( or tribe holcocerini ) from the blastobasis lineage ( which correspondingly become a subfamily , or a tribe blastobasini ) .

while this seems far more reasonable than some of the more extreme arrangements sometimes seen in gelechioidea taxonomy and systematics , the relationships among blastobasidae genera are not yet sufficiently studied to allow a well-supported subdivision of this family .

blastobasidae

blastobasidae <EOT> how can i put and write and define blastobasidae in a sentence and how is the word blastobasidae used in a sentence and examples ? 用blastobasidae造句 , 用blastobasidae造句 , 用blastobasidae造句 , blastobasidae meaning , definition , pronunciation , synonyms and example sentences are provided by ichacha . net .

adamski d ( 1995 ) review of the blastobasidae of the republic of the seychelles ( lepidoptera : gelechioidea ) . proc entomol soc washington 97 : 489–499

batrachedridae , oecophoridae , ethmiidae , autostichidae , blastobasidae , agronoxenidae , momphidae , cosmopterigidae and scythrididae : batrachedridae , . . . and butterflies of great britain and ireland

adamski d , brown rl ( 1989 ) morphology and systematics of north american blastobasidae ( lepidoptera : gelechioidea ) . mississippi agr forest exp stat tech bull 165 : 1–70

buszko j ( 1978 ) blastobasidae . in klucze do oznaczania owadów polski . 27 . motyle & lepidoptera , 36 : 22–32 . polskie towardzystwo entomologiczne [ in polish ]

the monophyly of this genus & ndash ; the largest of its family , containing at present about half the described blastobasidae species & ndash ; is seriously in doubt .

the blastobasidae , momphidae ( mompha moths ) , pterolonchidae , and symmocidae have formerly been included in the coleophoridae as subfamilies , but are more often considered separate families today .

heppner j . b . ( 2008 ) scavenger moths ( lepidoptera : blastobasidae ) . in : capinera j . l . ( eds ) encyclopedia of entomology . springer , dordrecht

the moths and butterflies of great britain and ireland . vol . 4 , pt . 1 : oecophoridae , ethmiidae , autostichidae , blastobasidae , batrachedridae , agonoxenidae , momphidae , cosmopterigidae and scythrididae

9780946589661 : batrachedridae , oecophoridae , ethmiidae , autostichidae , blastobasidae , agronoxenidae , momphidae , cosmopterigidae and scythrididae : batrachedridae , . . . and butterflies of great britain and ireland - abebooks : 0946589666

recorded as a parasitoid of tortricidae , pyralidae , blastobasidae , carposinidae , noctuidae , gelechiidae and cossidae , but no reared material seen by us and such a wide host range seems most improbable .

it is also known as the " ' acorn moth " ' , but this can also refer to " blastobasis glandulella " from north america , which belongs to the more primitive family blastobasidae .

while this seems far more reasonable than some of the more extreme arrangements sometimes seen in gelechioidea taxonomy and systematics , the relationships among blastobasidae genera are not yet sufficiently studied to allow a well - supported subdivision of this family .

neoblastobasis kuznetsov & sinev , a genus of the family blastobasidae , has been known with three species in korea . in this study , a new species of the genus , neoblastobasis songi park , sp . nov . , is described , and n . camelliae is newly recorded in korea . a key for the species and a tentative catalog of the genus in korea are provided .

the blastobasidae are members of the superfamily gelechioidea . blastobasids occur worldwide , but are most diverse in north and south america , with more than 275 described species and possibly five to 10 times that many yet to be studied . blastobasids are small , nocturnal moths with narrow wings . most species are uniformly dull colored , usually gray , sometimes tan or yellowish . larvae are typically slender and cylindrical , and many species feed on detritus associated with the nests and galleries of other insect species .

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formerly considered a subfamily of coleophoridae ; treated as a full family by heikkilä et al . ( 2013 )

heikkilä , m . , mutanen , m . , kekkonen , m . and kaila , l . 2013 . morphology reinforces proposed molecular phylogenetic affinities : a revised classification for gelechioidea ( lepidoptera ) . cladistics 1 - 27 . ( abstract )

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adamski d ( 2002 ) a synopsis of described neotropical blastobasinae ( lepidoptera : gelechioidea ; coleophoridae ) . entomological society of america , lanham , md ( thomas say monograph ) , 150 pp

adamski d , hodges rw ( 1996 ) an annotated list of north american blastobasinae ( lepidoptera : gelechioidea : coleophoridae ) . proc entomol soc washington 98 : 708–740

six of the seven north american genera occur in illinois . this group is well represented in north america , with 69 described ( and possibly a considerable number of undescribed ) species , but life histories are known for only a very few . larvae of some species are known or suspected to be " scavengers " or to feed on roots of composites ( asteraceae ) ; others are known to feed internally on seeds of pines , pinus spp . ( pinaceae ) or on acorns of oaks , quercus spp . ( fagaceae ) . a substantial contribution to our knowledge of nearctic microlepidoptera could be made by working out life histories of a good representation of blastobasinae species .

blastobasine forewing coloration most commonly involves shades of gray and / or brown , overlaid with paler scaling , and frequently showing either a contrastingly pale band at about one third of the wing length from the base , or an abrupt color change from paler to darker in the same position , depending upon species ( this particular combination of coloration and pattern is reminiscent , analogously , of that of many species of phycitine pyralidae ) . color pattern in blastobasinae is not diagnostic ; as can be observed in the illustrations below , a similar pattern can be seen in more than one genus .

specimens of adult blastobasinae are recognized most easily by their having a transverse row of small spines at the posterior margin of each segment on the dorsum of the abdomen ( fig . 1 ) .

figure 1 . abdomen of blastobasinae , dorsal aspect , showing the characteristic transverse rows of small spinelike structures at the posterior margin of each segment , a distinctive character of the group .

have a distinctive " notch " on the first antennal flagellomere ( fig . 2 ) .

figure 2 . antennae of blastobasinae belonging to genera in which the basal flagellomere of the male moth forms a characteristic " notch " ; blastobasis sp . ( left panel ) , holcocera sp . ( right panel ) .

beyond the characters of labial palpi ( for pigritia , see below ) and antennal morphology ( given above ) , there are reliable characters of wing venation and genital morphology that can be used to determine blastobasine adults to genus ( see adamski and brown 1989 ) .

among genera occurring in illinois , pigritia can be recognized by its markedly reduced labial palpi ( fig . 8 ) .

figure 8 . heads of pigritia spp . , ventral aspect , showing reduction of the labial palpi , from vestigial ( left panel ) to indiscernible ( right panel ) . as noted by dietz ( 1900 ) , some species display sexual dimorphism in which the labial palpi of the male moth are more reduced in size than are those of the female .

to enlarge images simply click on them . you will see a control bar on the image that you can use to scroll through images before and after . click on and image twice and it will close . you can open more than one image if you wish to compare moths and you can even use the cross arrow icon to move the images . click on a name to learn more about a particular moth . enjoy !

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each volume in the very well known series the moths and butterflies of great britain and ireland contains special introductory chapters on important aspects of the study of british lepidoptera ; keys to families and species ; a systematic section consisting of a full description , details of the life history , and a distribution map for each species , as well as structural drawings where nessesary . in addition , all species and significant variants are illustrated in colour . also available in paperback ( isbn 978 - 09 - 46 - 58972 - 2 ) .

this is part one of volume four of " the moths and butterflies of great britain and ireland . " due to its extent , the volume is published in two parts , and this text contains a special chapter followed by a systematic account of the oecophoridae and the smaller families - a total of 147 species .

harley , 2002 . condition : new . 326 , 7 col plates , 6 col photos , 95 text figs , 146 maps . 265x210mm . hb . new . . 147 species . includes introductory chapter on " the ecology and evolution of lepidopteran defence against bats " , by jens rydell and mark young . [ 9780946589661 ] .

brill . hardback . condition : new . new copy - usually dispatched within 2 working days .

brill , netherlands , 2002 . hardback . condition : new . language : english . brand new book . each volume in the very well known series the moths and butterflies of great britain and irelandcontains special introductory chapters on important aspects of the study of british lepidoptera ; keys to families and species ; a systematic section consisting of a full description , details of the life history , and a distribution map for each species , as well as structural drawings where nessesary . in addition , all species and significant variants are illustrated in colour . also available in paperback ( isbn 978 - 09 - 46 - 58972 - 2 ) .

brill , 2002 . hardback . condition : new . 9780946589661 this listing is a new book , a title currently in - print which we order directly and immediately from the publisher . for all enquiries , please contact herb tandree philosophy books directly - customer service is our primary goal .

harley books , 2002 . hardcover . condition : brand new . 326 pages . 10 . 75x8 . 75x1 . 00 inches . in stock .

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corresponding author : cornelis van achterberg ( ln . silarutanbcn @ grebrethcanav . seec ) .

this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license , which permits unrestricted use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author and source are credited .

the species of seventeen genera of agathidinae ( braconidae ) from vietnam are revised : agathis latreille , 1804 , bassus fabricius , 1804 ; biroia szépligeti , 1900 ; braunsia kriechbaumer , 1894 ; camptothlipsis enderlein , 1920 ; coccygidium de saussure , 1892 ; coronagathis gen . n . ( type species : coronagathis cornifera sp . n . ) ; cremnops foerster , 1862 ; disophrys foerster , 1862 ; earinus wesmael , 1837 ; euagathis szépligeti , 1900 ; gyragathis gen . n . ( type species : gyragathis quyi sp . n . ) , gyrochus enderlein , 1920 ; lytopylus foerster , 1862 ; therophilus wesmael , 1837 ; troticus brullé , 1846 , and zelodia gen . n . ( type species : zelomorpha varipes van achterberg & maetô , 1990 ) . keys to the vietnamese species are given .

sixty - five species are recognised , of which twelve species are newly recorded for vietnam : bassus albifasciatus ( watanabe , 1934 ) , coccygidium angostura ( bhat & gupta , 1977 ) , cremnops atricornis ( smith , 1874 ) , stat . n . , disophrys erythrocephala cameron , 1900 , gyrochus yunnanensis wang , 1984 , lytopylus romani ( shestakov , 1940 ) , comb . n . , therophilus festivus ( muesebeck , 1953 ) , comb . n . , therophilus javanus ( bhat & gupta , 1977 ) , comb . n . , therophilus lienhuachihensis ( chou & sharkey , 1989 ) , comb . n . , therophilus marshi ( bhat & gupta , 1977 ) , comb . n . , zelodia absoluta ( chen & yang , 1998 ) , comb . n . and zelodia longidorsata ( bhat & gupta , 1977 ) , comb . n .

forty - two species are new to science : agathis citrinisoma sp . n . , bassus albobasalis sp . n . , bassus albozonatus sp . n . , biroia soror sp . n . , braunsia bicolorata sp . n . , braunsia devriesi sp . n . , braunsia maculifera sp . n . , braunsia nigrapiculata sp . n . , braunsia pumatica sp . n . , camptothlipsis hanoiensis sp . n . , coronagathis cornifera sp . n . , earinus aurantius sp . n . , earinus brevistigmus sp . n . , euagathis flavosoma sp . n . , disophrys maculifera sp . n . , disophrys quymanhi sp . n . , disophrys rhinoides sp . n . , gyragathis quyi sp . n . , therophilus annuliferus sp . n . , therophilus cattienensis sp . n . , therophilus contrastus sp . n . , therophilus crenulisulcatus sp . n . , therophilus depressiferus sp . n . , therophilus elongator sp . n . , therophilus levisoma sp . n . , therophilus marucae sp . n . , therophilus mellisoma sp . n . , therophilus nigrolineatus sp . n . , therophilus nuichuaensis sp . n . , therophilus parasper sp . n . , therophilus planifrons sp . n . , therophilus punctiscutum sp . n . , therophilus robustus sp . n . , therophilus rugosiferus sp . n . , therophilus scutellatus sp . n . , troticus alloflavus sp . n . , troticus giganteus sp . n . , zelodia albobasalis sp . n . , zelodia anginota sp . n . , zelodia bicoloristigma sp . n . , zelodia brevifemoralis sp . n . and zelodia flavistigma sp . n .

the following new synonyms are proposed : euagathis nigrithorax bhat & gupta , 1977 , euagathis variabilis enderlein , 1920 , euagathis variabilis var . tibialis enderlein , 1920 , euagathis variabilis var . melanopleura enderlein , 1920 and euagathis variabilis var . sucarandana enderlein , 1920 with euagathis abbotti ( ashmead , 1900 ) ; euagathis jinshanensis chen & yang , 2006 and euagathis sharkeyi chen & yang , 2006 , with euagathis forticarinata ( cameron , 1899 ) . the genus amputostypos sharkey , 2009 , is synonymised with coccygidium de saussure , 1892 , syn . n .

the biology of most species is unknown , but in general agathidines are koinobiont endoparasitoids of larvae of lepidoptera . the species with a short ovipositor select exposed larvae and those with a long ovipositor use larvae with a concealed way of life .

collection in the institute of ecology & biological resources ( iebr ) at hanoi ( assembled by the second author ) and the ncb naturalis collection ( rmnh ) at leiden ( assembled during five rmnh - iebr expeditions in vietnam ) . for identification of the subfamily

. additional non - exclusive characters in the key are between brackets . in the keys to species sometimes notes to similar species unknown from vietnam are included because they may occur in vietnam . putative apomorphies were determined through outgroup comparison making assumptions about the placement of certain taxa in

braunsia bicolorata sp . n . , female , holotype . 45 mesosoma lateral 46 mesosoma dorsal 47 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 48 wings 49 hind femur lateral 50 ovipositor sheath lateral 51 head lateral 52 head dorsal 53 head anterior .

braunsia devriesi sp . n . , female , holotype . 55 mesosoma lateral 56 mesosoma dorsal 57 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 58 wings 59 hind femur lateral 60 head lateral 61 head anterior 62 head dorsal .

disophrys erythrocephala cameron , female , thailand . 115 head dorsal 116 head lateral 117 mesosoma dorsal 118 wings 119 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 120 mesosoma lateral .

earinus brevistigmus sp . n . , female , holotype . 152 mesosoma lateral 153 mesosoma dorsal 154 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 155 wings 156 hind femur and tibia lateral 157 head anterior 158 head dorsal 159 head lateral .

inner spur of middle tibia 0 . 8–1 . 1 times as long as middle basitarsus ( a ) ; apex of antenna with short to medium - sized spine ( b ) , sometimes minute ; ovipositor sheath short , about as long as apical height of metasoma , hardly or not protruding ; hind trochantellus usually with a distinct ventral carina on its outer edge ( c ) or edge distinctly angulate ; [ apex of the ovipositor sheath blunt apically and with numerous ampulliform papillae ] ; coccygidium complex

inner spur of middle tibia 0 . 4–0 . 7 times as long as middle basitarsus ( aa ) ; apex of antenna without spine ( bb ) ; relative length of ovipositor sheath vari able ; ventral carina of hind trochantellus often ( about two - thirds ) absent or obsolescent ( cc )

frons without lateral carinae ( a ) ; vein m + cu of hind wing at most 0 . 8 times vein 1 - m ( b ) ; labio - maxillary complex only slightly protruding ( c )

frons with lateral carinae ( aa ) ; vein m + cu of hind wing longer than vein 1 - m or subequal ( up to 0 . 9 times ; bb ) ; labio - maxillary complex usually rather protruding ( cc , but not in oreba )

vertical axis [ v ] of malar triangle 1 . 7–6 . 0 times its horizontal axis [ h ] and the part of head below eyes only gradually narrowed ventrally ( a ) to parallel - sided ; clypeus strongly convex ( b ) ; mouth - parts more or less lengthened in form of a beak , galea nearly always distinctly longer than 1 . 3 times its width , longer than labial palp ( c ) ; [ mainly holarctic , but some species reach the northern oriental region ]

vertical axis [ v ] of malar triangle 1 . 0–1 . 5 times its horizontal axis [ h ] and the part of head below eyes directly narrowed ventrally ( aa ) ; clypeus usually at least partly flattened ( bb ) , only in therophilus mediator - group distinctly convex ( bbb ) ; mouth - parts normal , galea not longer than wide , shorter than labial palp and usually hardly or not visible in lateral view ( cc )

fore and middle tarsal claws simple and comparatively robust ( a ) ; area behind antennal sockets deeply impressed ( b ) ; [ vein 1 - m of hind wing 1 . 1–1 . 6 times as long as vein m + cu ]

fore and middle tarsal claws nearly always with a distinct basal lobe and comparatively slender ( aa ) ; area behind antennal sockets nearly always moderately to shallowly impressed ( bb ) ; [ vein 1 - m of hind wing 0 . 6–1 . 4 times as long as vein m + cu ]

vein r - m of fore wing absent ( a ) ; first metasomal tergite and often also metapleuron granulate and dull and tergite distinctly convex medially and dorsal carinae absent ( b ) ; precoxal sulcus about 0 . 6 times as long as mesopleuron and sculptured ( c ) or superficially impressed and smooth

vein r - m of fore wing present ( aa ) , rarely obsolescent ; sculpture of first tergite and metapleuron variable ( bb ) , if granulate then first tergite less convex medially and with dorsal carinae ( bbb ) ; precoxal sulcus longer than 0 . 6 times length of mesopleuron and sculptured ( cc ) or absent

first metasomal tergite 5–6 times as long as wide apically ( a ) and 1 . 6–1 . 7 times as long as hind coxa ( b ) ; frons flattened anteriorly except for a short median depression ( c ) ; hind femur short compared to hind coxa ( d ) ; hind basitarsus with numerous spiny setae ventrally ( e ) ; [ not yet found in vietnam but expected to occur ; synonymised with lytopylus foerster by sharkey et al . ( 2009 ) , but it runs in their key to therophilus wesmael . provisionally retained as separate genus because of the synapomorphous character states ( a - d ) listed above ]

agathis citrinisoma sp . n . , female , holotype . 2 head lateral 3 mesosoma lateral 4 mesosoma dorsal 5 fore wing 6 hind tarsal claw 7 head dorsal 8 head anterior 9 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 10 hind femur lateral .

urn : lsid : zoobank . org : act : 6f759ee8 - dc7c - 49aa - adb0 - bafa83eed7e9

holotype , ♀ ( rmnh ) , “s . vietnam : dak lak , chu yang sin n . p . , n [ ea ] r dam , 800–940 m , 2–10 . vi . 2007 , mal traps , c . v . achterberg & r . de vries , rmnh’07” .

agathis citrinisoma runs in the key by sharkey ( 1996 ) to agathis asternaulica sharkey , 1996 , from japan ; however , this species has the metasoma largely black ( citrinisoma : yellow ) , no trace of vein 1 - sr + m of the fore wing ( citrinisoma : partly developed ) and the notauli are smooth posteriorly ( citrinisoma : crenulate ) .

holotype , ♀ , length of body 4 . 0 mm , of fore wing 3 . 7 mm , of ovipositor sheath 2 . 0 mm .

antennal segments 34 , length of third segment 1 . 5 times fourth segment , length of third , fourth and penultimate segments 3 . 7 , 2 . 8 and 1 . 7 times their width , respectively ; length of apical antennal segment 1 . 6 times as long as penultimate segment ; maxillary palp 0 . 7 times height of head ; malar space 2 . 8 times as long as basal width of mandible ; in dorsal view temple short , length of eye 5 . 3 times temple ; temple directly narrowed posteriorly (

length of mesosoma 1 . 5 times its height ; pronotum reticulate - rugose ventrally , setose and finely punctate dorsally ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutum crenulate ; mesoscutum dull , with irregular punctures and setae ; notauli completely crenulate , united posteriorly forming a groove near scutellar sulcus ; scutellar sulcus with 4 carinae (

) ; scutellum distinctly convex with sparse fine punctures ; precoxal sulcus short , similar to a wide groove ; mesopleuron largely smooth with sparse fine punctures anteriorly ; propodeum rugose .

) ; vein sr1 straight ; r : 3 - sr + sr1 = 3 : 49 ; vein cu - a distinctly postfurcal . hind wing : vein m + cu 1 . 3 times as long as vein 1 - m .

length of hind femur , tibia and basitarsus 2 . 8 , 4 . 7 and 6 . 5 times their width , respectively ; hind femur ( as remainder of legs ) with short setae ; length of outer and inner spur of middle tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 4 times middle basitarsus , respectively ; outer side of middle tibia with 2 pegs , apex with 2 pegs ; length of outer and inner spur of hind tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 5 times hind basitarsus ; tarsal claws with lobe (

black ; palpi pale yellow ; clypeus , galea , fore leg , middle leg ( but coxa brown and femur yellowish - brown ) and metasoma yellow ; pterostigma and veins dark brown ; wing membrane rather infuscate .

from “citrinus” ( latin for “of citron” ) and “soma” ( greek for “body” ) , because of the yellow metasoma .

hemiogaster enderlein 1920 , syn . n . the type species , hemiogaster subrasa enderlein , 1920 , from sumatra is a new combination in bassus fabricius .

bassus albifasciatus ( watanabe ) , female , cuc phuong national park , but 13 of dark female from cat tien national park . 11 habitus lateral 12 hind tarsal claw 13 , 14 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 15 head anterior .

) ; length of first metasomal tergite about 1 . 4 times as long as wide apically

) ; length of first tergite 1 . 5–2 . 0 times as long as wide apically

ne vietnam : ha giang , ninh binh and s vietnam : dong nai . new record . outside vietnam known from china ( hubei ; ningxia ; taiwan ) , japan ( okinawa ) and korea .

urn : lsid : zoobank . org : act : f36ad4c6 - fb86 - 4581 - b52b - 2de9bdb1df45

bassus albobasalis sp . n . , female , holotype . 17 mesosoma dorsal 18 mesosoma lateral 19 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 20 antenna 21 wings 22 head lateral 23 head anterior 24 head dorsal 25 hind femur lateral .

holotype , ♀ ( rmnh ) “s . vietnam : dak lak , chu yang sin n . p . , nr dam , 800–1000 m , 2–10 . vi . 2007 , mal . traps 9–11 , c . v . achterberg & r . de vries , rmnh’07” . paratypes ( 7 ♀ ) : 1 ♀ ( rmnh ) , id . , but 800–940 m ; 5 ♀ ( rmnh , iebr ) “s . vietnam : dak lak , chu yang sin n . p . , krong k’mar , mal . traps , 840–940 m or 740–900 m , 2–10 . vi . 2007 , c . van achterberg & r . de vries , rmnh’07” ; 1 ♀ ( rmnh ) “n . vietnam : thua thien - hue , phong dien n . r . n [ ea ] r base - camp , 15 km w phong my , c 60 m , 22 . iii - 6 . iv . 2001 , mal . traps 1–3 , c . v . achterberg & r . de vries , rmnh’01” .

the new species is similar to bassus lineaticollis ( cameron , 1910 ) from sri lanka , but has the scutellum sparsely finely punctate ( in bassus lineaticollis densely rugulose - punctate ) and the first tergite 1 . 4 times ( twice ) as long as its apical width . the new species is also similar to bassus cancellatus ( enderlein , 1920 ) from china ( taiwan ) , but differs by having the first and second tergites ivory ( black ) , the body smaller ( 3–5 mm versus 6–10 mm ) , fewer antennal segments ( 29–31 versus 42–46 ) , the first tergite ( 1 . 4 times versus 1 . 7–1 . 8 times ) and the ovipositor sheath shorter ( 0 . 7 times versus 1 . 1 times as long as fore wing ) . bassus subrasa ( enderlein , 1920 ) comb . n . from indonesia ( sumatra ) is similar but has the head dorsally , propodeum , hind coxa and femur brownish - yellow , first and second tergites coarsely striate and the eye about 3 times longer than the temple . bassus canaliculatus yang & chen , 2006 , from china ( hubei ) has the ovipositor sheath about 1 . 3 times as long as the fore wing , the dorsal carinae of the first tergite lamelliform and nearly complete , the first tergite with a medio - longitudinal depression and both basal tergites of the metasoma black .

holotype , ♀ , length of body 5 . 2 mm , of fore wing 4 . 6 mm , of ovipositor sheath 3 . 3 mm .

antennal segments 31 , length of third segment 1 . 3 times fourth segment ; third , fourth and penultimate segments 3 . 6 , 3 . 3 and 1 . 4 times their width , respectively ; length of apical segment 1 . 2 times as long as penultimate segment ; length of maxillary palp 0 . 7 times height of head ; malar space 2 . 7 times as long as basal width of mandible ; temple short (

) , in dorsal view length of eye 4 . 6 times temple ; ocelli in low triangle , pol : od : ool = 9 : 7 : 18 (

length of mesosoma 1 . 5 times its height ; subpronope shallow ; pronotum largely smooth laterally , with sparse fine punctures dorsally ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutumsparsely crenulate ; lateral and middle lobes of mesoscutum sparsely and distinctly punctate , flat and smooth posteriorly ; notauli complete , moderately crenulate anteriorly and narrowly crenulate posteriorly ; scutellar sulcus 0 . 4 times as long as dorsal face of scutellum and with 4 carinae ; scutellum slightly convex and distinctly narrowed with lateral carina , shiny with sparse fine punctures , subposterior crest curved (

) ; mesopleuron below precoxal sulcus with sparse fine punctures ; mesopleuron above precoxal sulcus largely smooth ; metapleuron with large sparse punctures ; propodeum closely reticulate - rugose ; propodeal spiracle small , as long as wide .

) ; vein sr1 straight ; r : 3 - sr + sr1 = 6 : 63 . hind wing : vein m + cu 0 . 6 times as long as vein 1 - m (

length of hind femur , tibia and basitarsus 3 . 2 , 6 . 8 and 10 . 0 times their width , respectively ; hind femur ( as remainder of legs ) with bristly setae ; length of outer and inner spur of middle tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 5 times middle basitarsus , respectively ; apex of outer side of hind tibia with a cluster of 8 pegs ; length of outer and inner spur of hind tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 5 times hind basitarsus , respectively ; tarsal claws without lobe ( cf .

orange brown ; mouthparts yellow ; antenna , frons and vertex dark brown ; propodeum , third - eighth metasomal segments , hind coxa , trochantellus and femur black ; hind tibial spurs yellow ; first and second tergites ivory dorsally and white ventrally ; hind tibia and tarsus dark brown , except yellow basal ring ; veins and pterostigma dark brown , but pterostigma basally narrowly pale brownish ; apical 0 . 4 of fore wing distinctly infuscate and remainder of wings slightly infuscate or subhyaline .

antennal segments 29–31 ; second submarginal cell of fore wing with vein r - m absent or present ; vein m + cu of hind wing 0 . 6–0 . 8 times as long as vein 1 - m ; second tergite with smooth or striate transverse groove ; apical segment of antenna 1 . 0–1 . 2 times as long as penultimate segment ; length of body 3 . 2–5 . 2 mm .

from “albus” ( latin for “white” ) and “basis” ( latin for “foundation , base” ) , because of the white base of the metasoma .

urn : lsid : zoobank . org : act : 7e9f1682 - 3c25 - 40aa - 8cee - 50c371e2d051

bassus albozonatus sp . n . , male , holotype . 27 mesosoma lateral 28 mesosoma dorsal 29 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 30 wings 31 hind femur lateral 32 head lateral 33 head anterior 34 head dorsal 35 hind tarsal claw .

holotype , ♂ ( rmnh ) , aga . 282 , “ne vietnam : ninh binh , cuc phuong n . p . , mt , 20°23 ' n ; 105°34 ' e , 5–10 . v . 2002 , k . d . long” . paratypes : 1 ♂ ( iebr ) , aga . 283 , same data as holotype ; 1 ♂ ( rmnh ) , aga . 234 , “s . vietnam : dac lak , cu n’ga forest , 10 . vi . 2005 . k . d . long” .

the new species is similar to bassus albifasciatus ( watanabe , 1934 ) , but differs by having the malar space twice ( 2 . 6–2 . 8 times in bassus albifasciatus ) as long as basal width of mandible , the precoxal sulcus short and shallow ( distinct and 0 . 8 times as long as mesopleuron ) , the propodeum with three complete apical carinae ( evenly reticulate - rugose ) and ( except more or less posteriorly ) brownish - yellow ( brown to black ) , the notauli more widely crenulate ( rather narrowly crenulate ) , the mesoscutum flattened medio - posteriorly ( rather convex ) and the hind tibial spurs pale yellowish and distinctly contrasting with the blackish hind basitarsus ( brownish and less contrasting ) . because of the colour of the head and of the first tergite the new species is similar to bassus subrasa ( enderlein , 1920 ) comb . n . from indonesia . however , the latter has the eye about 3 times as long as the temple ( 2 . 3 times in bassus albozonatus ) , the second tergite distinctly costate ( only partly striate ) , the notauli smooth ( finely crenulate ) and vein cu - a of the fore wing distinctly postfurcal ( interstitial ) .

holotype , ♂ , length of body 6 . 5 mm , of fore wing 6 . 0 mm .

antennal segments 36 , length of third segment 1 . 1 times fourth segment , length of third , fourth and penultimate segments 4 . 4 , 4 . 0 and 2 . 3 times their width , respectively ; length of apical antennal segment 1 . 6 times as long as penultimate segment ; maxillary palp 0 . 7 times height of head ; malar space twice as long as basal width of mandible ; in dorsal view length of eye 2 . 3 times temple ; ocelli in low triangle , pol : od : ool = 8 : 7 : 21 (

length of mesosoma 1 . 4 times its height ; subpronope shallow ; pronotum largely smooth with sparse fine punctures dorsally ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutum sparsely crenulate ; lateral lobes of mesoscutum shiny with fine punctures anteriorly , flat and smooth posteriorly ; middle lobe of mesoscutum with sparse punctures and largely smooth posteriorly (

) ; notauli complete and finely crenulate ; scutellar sulcus 0 . 4 times as long as dorsal face of scutellum and with 3 carinae ; scutellum convex , rather long and narrowed posteriorly , without subposterior crest (

) ; propodeal spiracle rather small elliptical , 1 . 5 times as long as wide .

) ; vein sr1 sinuate ; r : 3 - sr + sr1 = 4 : 61 . hind wing : vein m + cu 0 . 7 times as long as vein 1 - m (

length of hind femur , tibia and basitarsus 3 . 9 , 7 . 5 and 10 . 4 times their width , respectively ; hind femur ( as remainder of legs ) with short setae ; length of outer and inner spur of middle tibia 0 . 4 and 0 . 5 times middle basitarsus , respectively ; outer apex of middle tibia with a cluster of 10 pegs ; outer apex of hind tibia with a cluster of 12 pegs ; length of outer and inner spur of hind tibia 0 . 4 and 0 . 5 times hind basitarsus , respectively ; outer side of hind coxa with sparse punctures , of hind femur with distinct punctures ; tarsal claws without lobe (

length of first tergite 1 . 5 times its apical width , with dorsal and dorso - lateral carinae coarsely developed , dorsal carinae convergent , costate medially and posteriorly nearly up to apex of tergite (

) ; first tergite sparsely but coarsely striate ; second tergite 1 . 4 times as long as third tergite , large basal area on two thirds of tergite partly smooth , rugose - punctate and remainder densely striate (

brownish - yellow ; antenna ( but scapus yellow ) brown ; hind leg ( but tibia with pale yellow basal ring ) and metasoma dark brown or black ( but basal area of second tergite ivory and first and second tergites white ventrally ) ; pterostigma ( except small pale brownish patch basally ) and veins dark brown ; wing membrane slightly infuscate or subhyaline , but apical 0 . 4 of fore wing rather infuscate .

length of body 6 . 5–7 . 0 mm , of fore wing 6 . 0–6 . 1 mm ; penultimate antennal segment subequal to apical segment ; vein m + cu of hind wing 0 . 7–0 . 8 times as long as 1 - m ; pol : od : ool = 8 : 6–7 : 21 ; outer apex of hind tibia with 9–12 pegs .

from “albus” ( latin for “white” ) and “zona” ( latin for “girdle” ) , because of the white part of the second metasomal tergite .

biroia soror sp . n . , female , holotype . 37 mesosoma lateral 38 head anterior 39 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 40 head lateral 41 head dorsal 42 mesosoma dorsal 43 wings .

holotype , ♀ ( rmnh ) , “s . vietnam : dong nai , cat tien n . p . , dong trail , mal . traps 13–16 , c 100 m , 1–9 . x . 2005 , c . v . achterberg & r . de vries , rmnh’05” . paratypes ( 6 ♀ ) : 2 ♀ ( rmnh , iebr ) , id . but ficus trail , mal . traps 1–8 ; 1 ♀ ( rmnh ) , id . but bird trail , mal . traps 9–12 ; 3 ♀ ( rmnh , iebr ) , id . but ficus trail , 9–10 . iv . 2007 , m . p . quy & n . t . manh .

, but often the head and the anterior part of the mesosoma are orange - brown ) .

holotype , ♀ , length of body 8 . 8 mm , of fore wing 7 . 2 mm , ovipositor sheath 6 . 3 mm .

antennal segments 45 , length of third segment 1 . 5 times fourth segment , length of third , fourth and penultimate segments 1 . 7 , 1 . 7 and 1 . 7 times their width , respectively ; apical antennal segment 1 . 6 times as long as penultimate segment ; length of maxillary palp 0 . 5 times height of head ; in dorsal view length of eye 4 . 7 times temple ; temple gradually narrowed posteriorly (

length of mesosoma 1 . 6 times its height ; pronotal trough smooth medially , with sparse fine punctures dorsally and crenulate posteriorly ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutum smooth anteriorly , crenulate posteriorly ; mesoscutum shiny with very sparse minute punctures ; notauli completely absent ; scutellar sulcus 0 . 5 times as long as dorsal face of scutellum and with 3 strong carinae (

) ; mesopleuron above precoxal sulcus shiny and nearly smooth with very sparse fine punctures ; mesopleuron below precoxal sulcus with sparse distinct punctures ; metapleuron setose with sparse distinct punctures dorsally , largely areolate - rugose ventrally ; propodeum with a large areola and costulae developed , area of areola with 3 transverse carinae ; propodeal spiracle large medium - sided , 1 . 75 times as long as wide .

) ; vein sr1 straight ; r : 3 - sr : sr1 = 4 : 10 : 64 ; r : 2 - sr : 3 - sr : r - m = 4 : 11 : 10 : 8 . hind wing : vein m + cu 0 . 6 times as long as vein 1 - m .

length of hind femur , tibia and basitarsus 4 . 0 , 6 . 0 and 9 . 3 times their width , respectively ; hind femur ( as remainder of legs ) with strong setae ; length of outer and inner spur of middle tibia 0 . 4 and 0 . 7 times middle basitarsus , respectively ; length of outer and inner spur of hind tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 5 times hind basitarsus ; fore and middle tarsi slender (

shiny smooth ; first tergite distinctly widened subposteriorly and then narrowed apically ; length of first tergite 1 . 4 times as long as its apical width (

) , area near groove with two rows of sparse setae ; latero - posterior corners of third tergite with a dense cluster of setae ; ovipositor sheath 0 . 9 times as long as fore wing .

black ; galea , palpi , mandible , fore legs and tarsus yellow ; wing membrane black but hyaline on apical third of fore wing and on one fourth of hind wing .

length of body 8 . 5–10 . 0 mm , and of fore wing 6 . 8–8 . 0 mm ; ratio of vein r : 3 - sr : sr1 = 3–4 : 11–12 : 71–82 ; vein m + cu of hind wing 0 . 5–0 . 7 times as long as vein 1 - m ; first tergite 1 . 4–1 . 7 times as long as its apical width .

from “soror” ( latin for “sister” ) , because of its close similarity to bassus abdominalis ( enderlein ) .

braunsia maculifera sp . n . notes . if pol 0 . 5 times ool and vein cu - a of fore wing distinctly postfurcal , cf . braunsia pappi chen & yang , 2006 , from china . if the areola of the propodeum is wider , the apical quarter of the hind tibia infuscate and the hind tarsus blackish , the anterior transverse carina is incomplete , the antenna is yellowish , the pterostigma is dark brown except for the yellow basal third , the frons deeply concave near the antennal sockets , no isolated stigmal spot of the fore wing , the ovipositor sheath about as long as body and the first tergite is more robust , cf . braunsia margaroniae nixon , 1950 , from india .

braunsia devriesi sp . n . notes . braunsia pappi chen & yang , 2006 , from china differs from braunsia devriesi by having the fore wing darkened apically with a distinct dark brown band below the stigmal spot and by the smooth basal half of the first metasomal tergite .

) ; outer side of apical third of middle tibia with row of 5 pegs ; eye medium - sized , in dorsal view length of eye 2 . 1 times as long as temple (

) ; outer side of apical third of middle tibia with row of 4–6 pegs ; eye rather large , in dorsal view length of eye 2 . 7 times as long as temple (

holotype , ♀ ( rmnh ) , aga . 119 , “ne vietnam : hoa binh , mai chau , pa co n . r , 1200 m , 24 . iv . 2002 , k . d . long” . paratypes : 1 ♂ ( iebr ) , aga . 120 and 1 ♂ ( rmnh ) , aga . 121 , same data as holotype ; 1 ♀ ( iebr ) , aga . 276 , id . , but 21 . iv . 2002 , k . d . long ; 2 ♂ ( iebr ) , aga . 216 , aga . 219 and 1 ♂ ( rmnh ) , aga . 220 , “n . w vietnam : lao cai , sa pa , bushes , 8 . x . 2004 , k . d . long” .

the new species is morphologically similar to braunsia latisocreata bhat & gupta , 1977 , from india , but differs by having the first tergite about 3 . 7 times as long as its apical width ( in braunsia latisocreata 1 . 5 times ) ; the second tergite about twice as long as wide apically ( 1 . 5 times ) ; the second submarginal cell of the fore wing with a rather long ( i . e . distinctly longer than vein r of fore wing ) ramellus ( short ) and the metasoma entirely reddish yellow ( black ) .

holotype , ♀ , length of body 9 . 0 mm , of fore wing 7 . 8 mm , ovipositor 8 . 0 mm .

antennal segments 47 , length of third segment 1 . 2 times fourth segment , length of third , fourth and penultimate segments 3 . 7 , 3 . 3 and 2 . 0 times their width , respectively ; length of maxillary palp 0 . 7 times height of head ; in dorsal view head transverse and 1 . 3 times as wide as mesonotum ; length of eye 2 . 1 times temple (

) ; pol : od : ool = 7 : 4 : 11 ; antennal sockets not tubular ; occipital flange sharp ; malar space 1 . 8 times as long as basal width of mandible ; face shiny with sparse fine punctures , frons and vertex smooth .

length of mesosoma 1 . 5 times its height ; subpronope large and deep ; side of pronotum smooth ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutum crenulate ; lateral lobes of mesoscutum smooth ; middle lobe with sparse fine punctures ; notauli deep , crenulate (

) ; metapleuron mainly smooth with long setae ; propodeum setose , with a strong transverse carina subbasally , rugose posteriorly ; spiracle medium - sized , round , 1 . 8 times as long as wide .

fore wing : second submarginal cell pentagonal , narrow anteriorly , with rather long ramellus , 1 . 1 times as long as vein 2 - sr ( 17 : 15 ) (

) ; r : 3 - sr : sr1 = 4 : 3 : 65 ; 2 - sr : 3 - sr : r - m = 11 : 3 : 11 ; vein cu - a slightly antefurcal . hind wing : vein 2 - sr + m transverse ; vein m + cu 0 . 6 times as long as 1 - m ( 28 : 50 ) ; surroundings of cu - a glabrous .

length of hind femur , tibia and basitarsus 5 . 7 , 10 . 0 and 10 . 6 times their width , respectively ; hind coxa smooth ; hind femur with short and sparse setosity (

) ; outer side of apical third of middle tibia with a row of 5 pegs ; outer side of apex of hind tibia with a cluster of 8 pegs ; length of outer and inner spurs of middle tibia 0 . 4 and 0 . 5 times middle basitarsus , respectively ; length of outer and inner spurs of hind tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 4 times hind basitarsus .

) ; length of first tergite 3 . 7 times its apical width ; dorsal carinae of first tergite divergent and on three fourth of the tergite ; second tergite 2 . 1 times as long as wide apically and with posteriorly diverging striae , on apical third of second tergite with transverse furrow ; dorsal half of third tergite with striae , apical half finely granulate ; remainder of metasoma smooth (

female : second submarginal cell of fore wing triangular or pentagonal ; vein m + cu of hind wing 0 . 5–0 . 6 times as long as 1 - m ; outer side of hind tibial apex with cluster of 8–10 pegs . male : antenna with 45 or 48 segments ; vein cu - a of fore wing interstitial ; outer side of hind tibial apex with 7 pegs ; hind coxa and first tergite apically dark brown .

from “bi” ( latin for “two” ) , and “coloris” ( latin for “hue , tint” ) , because of the bicoloured body .

urn : lsid : zoobank . org : act : 585c9ac9 - b17a - 4ce4 - b250 - a84de8bf7e32

holotype , ♀ ( rmnh ) , “n . vietnam : viet tri , n [ ea ] r thanh son , thuong cuu , 20°59 ' n ; 105°8 ' e , 350–400 m , 11–16 . x . 1999 , malaise traps , r . de vries , rmnh’99” .

the new species is morphologically similar to braunsia bipunctata enderlein , 1906 , from indonesia , but differs by having the propodeum with a complete and regular basal transverse carina ( braunsia bipunctata : transverse carina partly weakly developed and irregular ) ; and the anterior half of the first tergite coarsely striate medially ( bipunctata : smooth except for a median carina ) .

holotype , ♀ , length of body 10 . 5 mm , of fore wing 9 . 3 mm , ovipositor 7 . 3 mm .

antennal segments 45 ; length of third segment times fourth segment , length of third , fourth and penultimate segments 3 . 3 , 2 . 3 and 1 . 3 times their width , respectively ; length of maxillary palp 0 . 7 times height of head ; in dorsal view length of eye twice temple (

) ; face shiny smooth with sparse punctures ; frons and vertex shiny and smooth .

length of mesosoma 1 . 5 times its height ; subpronope large and deep ; side of pronotum smooth ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutum smooth ; side of mesoscutum largely smooth with sparse setae and fine punctures ; notauli deep and smooth (

) ; scutellar sulcus short , 0 . 4 times as long as dorsal face of scutellum and with 4 carinae ; scutellum convex , smooth , sparsely setose ; mesopleuron above and below precoxal sulcus shiny and smooth ; precoxal sulcus narrow and shallow similar to a smooth groove (

) ; metapleuron smooth ; propodeum with basal and transverse carinae , two longitudinal carinae forming a large areola ; spiracle medium - sized , subelliptical and 2 . 3 times as long as wide .

fore wing : second submarginal cell pentagonal , narrow anteriorly , with rather long ramellus , 0 . 8 times as long as vein 2 - sr (

) ; r : 3 - sr : sr1 = 6 : 2 : 55 ; 2 - sr : 3 - sr : r - m = 9 : 2 : 9 ; vein cu - a distinctly postfurcal . hind wing : vein 2 - sr + m slightly vertical ; vein m + cu 0 . 8 times as long as 1 - m ; surroundings of cu - a sparsely setose .

length of hind femur , tibia and basitarsus 5 . 1 , 9 . 7 and 11 . 6 times their width , respectively ; hind femur ( as remainder of legs ) with short and dense setosity ; outer side of apical third of middle tibia with a row of 5 pegs and a cluster of 3 pegs at apex ; outer side of apex of hind tibia with a cluster of 9 pegs ; length of outer and inner spurs of middle tibia 0 . 4 and 0 . 6 times middle basitarsus , respectively ; length of outer and inner spurs of hind tibia 0 . 3 and 0 . 4 times hind basitarsus , respectively .

first tergite rather long , widened apically , 2 . 3 times as long as its apical width (

it is a pleasure to name this species after mr rob de vries , who participated in all vietnam expeditions and prepared the specimens . he plays an important role in the success of the expeditions .

urn : lsid : zoobank . org : act : 8f7ea4fe - e092 - 4ac3 - 973b - 64110615f11a

braunsia maculifera sp . n . , female , holotype . 64 mesosoma lateral 65 mesosoma dorsal 66 first - third metasomal tergites dorsal 67 wings 68 hind femur lateral 69 head anterior 70 head lateral 71 head dorsal .

holotype , ♀ ( rmnh ) , aga . 162 , “ne vietnam : phu tho , xuan son n . p . , 6 . vii . 2003 , tr . x . lam” .

the new species is morphologically similar to braunsia margaroniae nixon , 1950 , from india , but differs by having the sides of the propodeal areola slightly curved ( distinctly curved in braunsia margaroniae ) , the pterostigma completely yellow ( apical two thirds brown ) , the hind tibia yellowish apically ( brown ) and the hind tarsus infuscate ( brown ) , frons shallowly depressed near antennal sockets ( distinctly concave ) , the antenna ( except scapus and pedicellus ) dark brown ( brown ) , the first tergite 1 . 4 times ( 1 . 6 times ) as long as its apical width , the fore wing without an isolated dark brown stigmal spot ( present ) and the ovipositor sheath about 0 . 6 times ( 1 . 0–1 . 1 times ) as long as body .

holotype , ♀ , length of body 8 . 7 mm , of fore wing 7 . 8 mm , ovipositor 4 . 8 mm .

antennal segments 42 ; length of third segment 1 . 1 times fourth segment , length of third , fourth and penultimate segments 2 . 9 , 2 . 6 and 1 . 4 times their width , respectively ; apical antennal segment 1 . 7 times as long as penultimate segment ; length of maxillary palp 0 . 7 times height of head ; in dorsal view length of eye 2 . 2 times temple (

) ; length of malar space 1 . 9 times basal width of mandible ; face setose and punctulate ; frons smooth , moderately concave near antennal sockets ; vertex slightly punctulate and sparsely setose .

length of mesosoma 1 . 4 times its height ; subpronope large and deep ; side of pronotum smooth ; area near lateral carina of mesoscutum smooth ; side of mesoscutum largely smooth , moderately setose and punctulate ; notauli deep and nearly completely smooth (

) ; scutellar sulcus deep , 0 . 4 times as long as dorsal face of scutellum and with two short crenulae ; scutellum smooth , distinctly convex and rather steep posteriorly ; mesopleuron shiny and smooth ; precoxal sulcus narrow , deep ( but absent anteriorly ) and with few short crenulae (


the spiny butterfly ray or giant butterfly ray ( gymnura altavela ) is a species of butterfly ray , family gymnuridae , native to the shallow coastal waters of the atlantic ocean .

a large ray that can measure over 2 m ( 6 ft 7 in ) across , it may be distinguished from the sympatric smooth butterfly ray ( g. micrura ) by the spine at the base of its tail and by a small tentacular structure on the margin of each spiracle .

slow-reproducing and valued for its meat , in recent decades its population has experienced a decline of over 30 % , and it has become critically endangered in certain parts of its range .

spiny butterfly ray

spiny butterfly ray <EOT> rays of paradise : ecology and distribution of spiny butterfly ray in gran canaria , canary island .

the juvenile spiny butterfly ray has paler skin , which darkens to brown as it matures ( 4 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray may be infected by parasites , most notably by the tapeworm anthobothrium altavelae ( 7 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray reproduces annually . this species is ovoviviparous , and the gestation period lasts between four and nine months . the litter size of the spiny butterfly ray is between two and eight , depending on location ( 1 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray is less threatened in us waters , where fishing levels are are lower . however , in the mediterranean sea , there is much higher demand for the spiny butterfly ray’s meat . it is now so rare in the mediterranean , the spiny butterfly ray has been absent from the mediterranean international trawl survey ( medits ) records since they began in 1994 ( 1 ) .

despite the rapidly declining numbers of the spiny butterfly ray , there are currently no specific conservation management programmes in place , and intensive trawling continues throughout this species’ range . however , the spiny butterfly ray is fully protected in the banc d ' arguin national park in mauritania . monitoring of spiny butterfly ray populations and protection in areas where it is heavily fished are needed ( 1 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray is patchily distributed across continental shelf waters of the mediterranean sea ( mceachran and fechhelm 1998 , serena 2005 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray can be found over sandy and muddy sea floors in shallow coastal waters , normally around depths of 50 to 55 metres . its patchy distribution means that the spiny butterfly ray is abundant in some areas , and scarcely found in others ( 1 ) .

suresh tv , raffi sm . pectoral fin anomalies in the long - tailed butterfly ray ,

expand the existing knowledge of the spiny butterfly rain the canary islands , focusing on the island of gran canaria .

embed this arkive thumbnail link ( " portlet " ) by copying and pasting the code below . < a href = " urltoken " title = " arkive species - spiny butterfly ray ( gymnura altavela ) " > < img src = " urltoken " alt = " arkive species - spiny butterfly ray ( gymnura altavela ) " title = " arkive species - spiny butterfly ray ( gymnura altavela ) " border = " 0 " / > < / a >

along the coast of west africa , large mesh bottom gillnets are used to target the spiny butterfly ray in huge numbers . even in protected marine areas , the average size of caught spiny butterfly rays has reduced as larger adults from the population are removed ( 1 ) .

little is known about the biology of the spiny butterfly ray . however , it is known that this species’ sharp pectoral fins are used to stun prey such as crustaceans , molluscs , plankton and small fishes . the spiny butterfly ray also may predate small sharks and squids , and may in turn be preyed upon by larger sharks ( 7 ) .

henningsen , a . ( 1998 ) captive husbandry and bioenergetics of the spiny butterfly ray , gymnura altavela ( linnaeus ) . zoo biology , 15 ( 2 ) : 135 - 142 .

the complete report is available at biomed central vía doi 10 . 1186 / s41200 - 016 - 0085 - 7 “ morphological and functional abnormality in the spiny butterfly ray gymnura altavela ” .

the upperparts of the spiny butterfly ray are usually brown to grey , sometimes with reddish - brown shading at the margins of the ‘wings’ . small dark or light spots and blotches may produce a marbling effect across the back . the colouration of the spiny butterfly ray , along with its wide , flat , disc - shaped body enable it to effectively camouflage itself in sand beds ( 5 ) ( 6 ) . the underside is generally white , brown or rosy - coloured . the spiny butterfly ray has a blunt snout , and the jaws contain many rows of teeth ( 4 ) ( 5 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray is under great pressure from fishing in the canary islands , a paradise in the atlantic ocean . david will work with citizen scientists to expand our knowledge about the lives of these vulnerable rays .

a female spiny butterfly ray g . altavela with an unfused anterior part of the right pectoral fin to the neurocranium was observed in the port of sardina del norte ( gran canaria island ) during a visual scuba diving census .

intense fishing in the southwest atlantic , particularly around the coast of brazil has led to declines in spiny butterfly ray populations . in 23 years , the percentage of trawl catches has reduced by an estimated 99 percent ( 1 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray gymnura altavela is one of 10 species of butterfly rays known worldwide ( 1 ) . this species has a broad distribution range and is present along the eastern and western coast of the atlantic ocean , including the mediterranean sea , the black sea and the madeira and canary islands ( 2 ) .

the spiny butterfly ray ( gymnura altavela ) gets its name from its wide , characteristically wing - like pectoral fins , and its short , sharp tail , which has serrated spines on both sides , used to stun prey ( 3 ) ( 4 ) .

the first case of a morphologic abnormality in the spiny butterfly ray is reported for an individual in the canary islands . this is also the first time that an anomaly is reported for an elasmobranch species in its natural environment and for this class of fishes in the canary islands .

the exact causes for the anomaly are unknown to us , but they might have a genetic origin or due to an obstruction during the embryonic development . however , there is insufficient knowledge about the early development processes of butterfly rays and the factors that can affect it . no matter how , the reported case is remarkable for its striking similarity with the one from a butterfly ray species from india ; the long - tailed butterfly ray g . poecilura .

this ray can be distinguished from the spiny butterfly ray ( g . altavela ) by the absence of both a tentacle like structure protruding from the inner posterior margin of the spiracle and a caudal fin spine . the absence of a tail spine and the presence of a keel on the upper surface of the tail separates g . micrura from g . hirundo .

the smooth butterfly ray prefers neritic waters of the continental shelf and is usually found on soft bottoms . this species is known to enter brackish estuaries or hyper - saline lagoons .

spotted eagle ray " flying " through open waters . image courtesy national park service

common english names for this species include : lesser butterfly ray , diamond skate , butterfly ray , short - tailed lesser butterfly ray , and skeete . other names include arraia ( portuguese ) , gladde vlinderrog ( dutch ) , korthalet sommerfuglerokke ( danish ) , krídloun hladký ( czech ) , motýlovec hladkýpari ( czech ) , gampret ( malay ) , perhosrausku ( finnish ) , raie - papillon glabre ( french ) , raya guayanesa ( spanish ) , raya mariposa menor ( spanish ) , togenashi - tsubakuro - ei ( japanese ) , and uge - borboleta ( portuguese ) .

similar species sharing distribution ranges with the spotted eagle ray include the southern eagle ray ( myliobatis goodei ) and the bullnose ray ( m . freminvillii ) . the southern eagle ray has a dorsal fin originating well behind the level of the rear edges of the pelvic fins while this fin originates just behind the pelvic fin insertion point in the spotted eagle ray . in contrast , the bullnose ray has a dorsal fin origin close to the level of the rear margins of the pelvic fins . also the bullnose ray is absent from the gulf of mexico and the majority of the caribbean sea . the coloration of both of the southern eagle ray and the bullnose ray ranges from a uniform gray to reddish - brown with diffuse white spots on the dorsal surface . another species that closely resembles the spotted eagle ray is the longheaded eagle ray ( aetobatus flagellum ) . however the uniform coloration of the dorsal side of the longheaded eagle easily distinguishes it from spotted eagle ray which has a spot pattern on the topside of its body .

an adult female spiny butterfly ray with an incomplete developed rostrum was observed in the port of sardina ( gáldar , gran canaria ) during 2 consecutive years . this anomaly was caused by the by the lack of fusion of its right pectoral fin to the cranium , leaving an opening in the anterior part of the disc which is normally closed .

occasionally spiny butterfly rays attend the organized ray feeds at los gigantes on tenerife ( where the featured specimen was seen ) . los gigantes diving offers freestyle feeds once or twice per week . the divemaster takes a huge barrel of fish scraps to 60ft and offers them to the eagerly gathering ray species . after a while the human participants usually help themselves to some fish and wander off to interact with the rays on their own . the feed can be rather chaotic but the ray action is almost guaranteed . attending species include common eagle rays , common stingrays , roughtail rays , round stingrays and occasionally angel sharks , butterfly rays , and marbled torpedo rays .

the spiny butterfly ray has a very patchy distribution in the coastal tropical and temperate waters of the atlantic ocean , the mediterranean and the black sea . this species can be found in areas on both sides of the atlantic , in the western coastal waters of north and south america , and in eastern coastal waters from portugal to angola ( 1 ) .

a variety of abnormalities have been described for sharks , rays and skates across different ecoregions . morphological and functional anomalies in these species , however , were not yet documented in distributions from the canary islands , the spiny butterfly ray gymnura altavela ( linnaeus , 1758 ) and from in situ observations . the aim of the present study is to fill these knowledge gaps .

reports of cases with disorders in elasmobranch species from the canary islands , the spiny butterfly ray gymnura altavela ( linnaeus , 1758 ) and from in situ observations were not collected so far . in this sense , the present communication is a novel report of an abnormality in an elasmobranch species in this region based on data from g . altavela during a visual scuba diving census .

bloch and schneider first described the smooth butterfly ray in 1801 . the genus gymnura of the currently accepted scientific name is derived from the greek word gymnos meaning naked . synonyms for gymnura micrura include pteroplatea micrura , raja micrura and gymnura micura .

the spotted eagle ray is a popular display aquarium specimen and is often seen in public aquaria facilities .

this is a small ray that does not possess a spine . therefore it represents little danger to humans .

lays motionless for much of the time under a thin covering of sand . butterfly ray footprints or beds ( indentations left in the sand ) can often be seen days after the animal has moved on . feeds on fishes , crustaceans , mollusks and plankton .

spotted eagle ray subrostral lobe and spiracles ( left ) and pelvic fins and tail base . image © george burgess

spotted eagle ray : notice the ringed color pattern across the dorsal surface . image courtesy florida keys national marine sanctuary

spotted eagle ray dentition : open mouth showing tooth bands and floor and roof of mouth . image © cathleen bester

bennet sp . on an abnormal ray from vizhinjam . j mar biol assoc india . 1964 ; 6 : 316–7 .

the spiny butterfly ray was listed in appendix ii of the barcelona convention . parties to the barcelona convention agreed in 2012 that all elasmobranch species listed in annex ii of the protocol concerning specially protected areas and biological diversity in the mediterranean sea ( which includes recommendation gfcm / 36 / 2012 / 1 ) cannot be retained on board , transshipped , landed , transferred , stored , sold or displayed or offered for sale , and must be released unharmed and alive , to the extent possible .

the dorsal surface of this ray varies greatly in color , either gray , brown , or light green . photo © christina conrath

ovoviviparous . 4 - 7 embryos . gestation lasts for about 6 months . once the unborn spiny butterfly rays have completely used up the reserves in the yolk sac , the mother secretes uterine milk . long villi ( filaments ) grow from the uterus walls into the embryo ' s spiracles . milk can then be directed more efficiently into the embryo ' s mouth and throat .

guida l , walker ti , reina rd . first record of a bicephalic chondrichthyan found in australian waters ; the southern fiddler ray ,

easwaran cr . on an abnormal ray from the gulf of kutch . j mar biol assoc india . 1967 ; 9 ( 1 ) : 198–200 .

denticles the smooth skin surface of the spotted eagle ray lacks denticles and thorns . the tail spines are not smooth , but instead have lateral teeth and a barbed tip .

the smooth butterfly ray is found in the western and eastern atlantic ocean and in the gulf of mexico . in the western atlantic it occurs from maryland to brazil . it occurs in the gulf of mexico and northern south america to brazil . it also occurs in the eastern atlantic off the coasts of senegal , gambia , sierra leone , cameroon and democratic republic of the congo ( to the mouth of congo river ) .

metin g , i̇lkyaz at , kinacigil ht . morphologic deformation in a ray : a case report . turk j vet anim sci . 2009 ; 33 ( 3 ) : 261–3 .

little is known of the spiny butterfly ray ' s biology . maximum size may reach 400 cm dw , but usually up to 200 cm dw ( stehmann 1981 ) . size at maturity is reported as 155 cm dw in males and 102 cm dw in females ( daiber and booth 1960 ) . reproduction is aplacental yolk - sac viviparous , with one to three pups per litter in the mediterranean sea ( tortonese 1956 ) . it reproduces annually and reported gestation time is four to nine months ( capapé et al . 1992 ) . size at birth ranges from 38–44 cm dw ( bigelow and schroeder 1953 , mceachran and carvalho 2002 ) . generation length is inferred from similar species as approximately six to seven years .

gallagher mj , nolan cp , jeal f ( 2004 ) age , growth and maturity of the commercial ray species from the irish sea . j northwest atl fish sci 35 : 47–66 .

food habits clams , oysters , shrimp , octopus , squid and sea urchins as well as bony fishes provide prey for the spotted eagle ray . this ray is well adapted with its shovel - shaped snout and duck - like bill for searching in the mud for benthic invertebrates . when a prey item is found , the ray crushes it with its plate - like teeth and uses the papillae located in the mouth to separate the shells from the flesh . upon scientific observation , the stomach contents of spotted eagle rays contained intact prey items lacking any remnants of shells .

, a new genus and species of electric ray from the east coast of south africa ( rajiformes : torpedinoidei : narkidae ) , with a review of torpedinoid taxonomy . smithiana bull 7 : 15–19 .

the spotted eagle ray is commonly observed in bays and over coral reefs as well as the occasional foray into estuarine habitats . although it occurs in inshore waters to depths of approximately 200 feet ( 60 m ) , the spotted eagle ray spends most of its time swimming in schools in open water . in open waters , spotted eagle rays often form large schools and swim close to the surface . it is known to swim long distances across open waters as evidenced by its presence in bermuda . this species is capable of leaping completely out of the water when pursued . it swims by " flying " gracefully through the water via the undulation of the pectoral fins . when this ray is caught and taken out of the water , it produces loud sounds . although much research is still needed on the life history of the spotted eagle ray , it is known that this species shows high site fidelity ( individuals often stay in or return to the same location ) . this ray also interacts socially with other individuals within its own species .

the spotted eagle ray is considered of minor commercial fisheries importance . presently , fishing grounds are primarily found within inshore surface waters throughout this species range . methods of capture include trawls , trammelnets , and longlines . it is also fished as a gamefish and provides a good fight when captured on a line . this ray is rarely eaten due to the poor quality of the flesh . instead , it is used for fishmeal and oil .

the spotted eagle ray is distributed worldwide in tropical and warm temperate waters . in the western atlantic ocean , it is found in waters off north carolina and florida ( u . s . ) , gulf of mexico , caribbean and bermuda south to brazil . this ray can be found from mauritania to angola in the eastern atlantic ocean . in the indo - west pacific , it occurs in the red sea and from south africa to hawaii , including north to japan and south to australia . the spotted eagle ray also resides in the waters of the eastern pacific ocean from the gulf of california south to puerto pizarro , peru , including the galapagos islands ( ecuador ) .

capapé c , ali m , saad a , reynaud c . tail abnormalities in thornback ray raja clavata ( chondrichthyes : rajidae ) from the coast of syria ( eastern mediterranean ) . cah biol mar . 2015b ; 56 ( 2 ) : 155–61 .

this is a broad , diamond - shaped ray with a very short tail lacking a dorsal spine and a protruding snout . the front edges of the disk are concave . the tail has low dorsal and ventral finfolds and three to four dark crossbars .

predators sharks , including the silvertip shark ( carcharhinus albimarginatus ) and great hammerhead ( sphyrna mokarran ) , are predators of the spotted eagle ray . sharks have also been reported to follow spotted eagle rays during the birthing season , feeding on newborn pups .

parasites trematodes , including thaumatocotyle pseudodasybatis , commonly infect the skin of the spotted eagle ray . clemacotyle australis was reported in the branchial cavity of an individual caught in australian waters and decacotyle octona n . comb was found on the gills on another individual .

this diamond - shaped ray is much wider than it is long , usually 3 to 4 feet wide , and its short tail lacks the ray ' s usual spine . it can vary from light brown to gray to greenish , with lighter or darker spots , and can manipulate its shading to blend better into its background . it is tolerant of a variety of salt content , from brackish river mouths to highly saline lagoons , as long as there is a muddy or sandy bottom to hunt small fish and invertebrates .

acanthobothrium monski n . sp . and a . nicoyaense n . sp . , both tapeworms , also parasitize the spotted eagle ray . in addition , a marine leech , branchellion torpedinis , has been recorded on the pelvic fins of a specimen from venezuelan waters .

historically , the spiny butterfly ray was not uncommon in the catch of demersal trawl and set net fisheries throughout the mediterranean sea , the southern part in particular . it is still regularly present in some parts of the southern and eastern mediterranean sea ( bariche 2012 ) . there have been no records of the species from the medits surveys since 1994 ( baino et al . 2001 ) , indicating that it is perhaps absent from most of the northern mediterranean sea . the cod - end mesh size of the medits gear of 20 mm is sufficient to catch this species , and the surveys occur throughout its depth range and habitat - type , ruling out the possibility that it may not be susceptible to this survey equipment . occasional specimens turn up in the catch of demersal fisheries ; for example , one adult male was captured recently near anzio , italy ( psomadakis et al . 2005 ) and another specimen in the southern adriatic sea in 2000 ( dulcic et al . 2003 ) , confirming that it is not yet locally extinct in the central mediterranean sea .

, bishop ray , bonnet skate , duckbill ray , eagle ray , lady ray , leopard ray , mottled eagle ray , skate , spotted bonnetray , spotted duckbill ray , spotted stingray , spotted eagleray , spotted whipray , sunfish , whip , whip ray , and white - spotted eagle ray . other common names include aigle de mer ( french ) , arendskoprog ( dutch ) , arraia - morcego ( portuguese ) , arraia - pintada ( portuguese ) , bagtau ( bikol ) , banagun ( bikol ) , banagon ( bikol ) , bolad ( marathi ) , bulik ( cebuano ) , chili ( oriya ) , chucho ( spanish ) , chucho pintado ( spanish ) , chuchu agila ( papiamento ) , curooway - tiriki ( tamil ) , dalimanok ( tagalog ) , eel - tenkee ( telugu ) , faaiy ( carolinian ) , fai manu ( tahitian ) , fai sikota ( tongan ) , fai - manu ( samoan ) , gavilan pintado ( spanish ) , gefleckter adlerrochen ( german ) , gevlekte adelaarsrog ( dutch ) , gharabi ( arabic ) , imil ( marshallese ) , jimojo ( marshallese ) , kakkathirandi ( malayam ) , kipungu ( swahili ) , kurivi thirukai ( tamil ) , lamburu jangang ( makassarese ) , leik - kyauh - sun ( burmese ) , leopardrocka ( swedish ) , madara - tobi - ei ( japanese ) , madi ( mahl ) , maylan ( somali ) , narinari ( portuguese ) , nek yorany ( kumak ) , obispo ( spanish ) , orlen centkowany ( polish ) , pagi ( tagalog ) , paging paul ( tagalog ) , papagaio ( portuguese ) , pari burung ( malay ) , pari lang ( malay ) , pe manuk ( ( javanese ) , pintada ( portuguese ) , pungo piju ( ( swahili ) , raia - chita ( portuguese ) , raia - leopardo ( portuguese ) , raie chauve - souris ( french ) , raie noire ( french ) , ramak - e - khaldar ( farsi ) , ratau ponteado ( portuguese ) , raya ( spanish ) , raya aguila ( spanish ) , rayo pico de pato ( spanish ) , spikkel - arendrog ( afrikaans ) , taachui ( swahili ) , tagabobon ( banton ) , taligmanok ( bikol ) , tiss ( arabic ) , tubaq ( arabic ) , vai tonotono ( fijian ) , vali lovo ( gela ) , vaval ( malayalam ) , wakawa ( spanish ) , and walbuulbul ( spanish ) .

the spotted eagle ray has a very angular disc and a long , broad snout with a v - shaped internasal flap . the ventrally located mouth is well - adapted for feeding on benthic prey . the flattened body disc is broad and short , measuring about twice as wide as long .

coloration the dorsal surface of this ray is gray , brown or light green , dotted and vermiculated with paler and darker spots . the tail has three to four dark crossbars . the ventral surface is white . this species has some ability to adapt it ' s shade to that of the bottom .

the spotted eagle ray was originally described in 1790 as raja narinari ( euphrasen 1790 ) . the name was changed to stoasodon narinari and later to the currently valid name aetobatus narinari ( euphrasen , 1790 ) . the genus name aetobatus is derived from the greek aetos meaning " eagle " and batis meaning " ray " . synonyms referring to this species in past scientific literature include raia quinqueaculeata quoy and gaimard 1824 , myliobatis eeltenkee rüppell , 1837 , myliobatis macroptera mcclelland 1841 , and aetobatis latirostris duméril , 1861 . a . narinari , sometimes considered a species complex rather than a single species , is currently under review .

size , age , and growth the spotted eagle ray reaches a maximum length of 8 . 2 feet ( 2 . 5 m ) not including the tail , with the total length including an unbroken tail reaching close to 16 . 4 feet ( 5 m ) . the maximum disc width is 9 . 8 feet ( 3 m ) and maximum published weight is 507 pounds ( 230 kg ) .

at 3 . 90 ( ±0 . 12 ) the mean t l for the torpedinoidei was slightly higher than that of the myliobatoidei ( table 3 ) . at the family level the torpedinidae ( t l = 4 . 24 ) and hypnidae ( t l = 4 . 21 ) had the highest t l values of this study ; the subfamily mobulinae had the lowest average t l value at 3 . 25 ( table 3 ) . the majority of species in the myliobatoidei and torpedinoidei ( 84 % , 63 spp . ) were identified as secondary consumers with a t l of < 4 . 0 ; the majority of which had a t l value of between 3 . 50 and 3 . 99 ( table s1 ) . the remaining 12 species ( 16 % ) were identified as tertiary consumers ( t l values ≥4 . 0 ) and included species from the families gymnuridae ( n = 4 ) , torpedinidae ( n = 3 ) , dasyatidae ( n = 2 ) , potamotrygonidae ( n = 2 ) , and hypnidae ( n = 1 ) . the longheaded eagle ray aetobatus flagellum ( bloch & schneider , 1801 ) and the largespot river stingray potamotrygon falkneri castex & maciel , 1963 had the lowest individual trophic level value of the study at t l = 3 . 10 . the australian butterfly ray g . australis and two species of torpedo had the highest individual t l value of 4 . 24 ( table s1 ) .

dietary studies involving the myliobatoidei and torpedinoidei are often restricted to individual species with interspecific comparisons focusing principally on results obtained from shared analytical techniques i . e . comparisons of index of relative importance ( i ri ) values . as a consequence , there is limited understanding of how the diets of ray species relate to each other and to the diets of other marine predators . the following study provides standardised dietary compositions and t l estimates for a wide range of species from the suborders myliobatoidei and torpedinoidei . designed to augment previous studies [ 1 ] – [ 3 ] , the results obtained provide a significant contribution to the overall understanding of what trophic levels elasmobranchs occupy and how these relate to other marine predators . the study also provides a comprehensive overview of the available dietary data for each of the suborders and represents the first detailed t l analysis involving multiple electric ray species .

habitat , biology , and fisheries : butterfly rays are cosmopolitan in tropical and warm - temperate waters , usually inhabiting sandy and muddy bottoms in shallow coastal waters , including estuaries and river mouths . benthic in shallow water to 55 m . because they have very short tails compared to whiptailed stingrays ( dasyatidae ) , they pose little threat to people ( some species even lack a caudal serrated spine ) . they are viviparous without placenta and feed primarily on crustaceans and clams . species are often caught in bottom gill nets . large specimens are marketed fresh and salted . dorsal surface dark brown to lighter brown , with small darker or lighter spots and blotches scattered on disc ; ventrally creamy white .

reproduction mating behavior often includes the pursuit of a female by one or more males . these males grab her dorsum with their upper tooth plate . one male then grasps the edge of the female ' s pectoral fin and rolls to her ventral side . the male then inserts a clasper into the female ray . the actual mating lasts 30 - 90 seconds while the pair are positioned venter - to - venter . females have been observed to mate in this manner with up to four males over a short time period .

in comparison to the previous studies of shark and skate diets [ 1 ] , [ 2 ] , rays of the myliobatoidei and torpedinoidei averaged 1 . 69±0 . 12 dietary studies per species compared to 2 . 98±0 . 24 for sharks [ 1 ] and 2 . 07±0 . 23 for skates [ 2 ] . the difference in study effort is also markedly different , with the majority of ray species’ diets characterised through a single study and a maximum of five dietary studies for a single species ( d . pastinaca ) . this is in contrast to nine studies for both the thornback skate raja clavata linnaeus , 1758 and thorny skate amblyraja radiata ( donovan , 1808 ) and 17 for the spiny dogfish squalus acanthias linnaeus , 1758 [ 1 ] , [ 2 ] . similarly , the maximum number of stomachs sampled for a single species was 1 , 265 for d . pastinaca ( current study ) ; compared with 19 , 259 for s . acanthias [ 1 ] and 19 , 738 for the little skate leucoraja erincea ( mitchill , 1825 ) [ 2 ] . it is noted though that all three studies contained a relatively high proportion of species with samples of fewer than 100 stomachs ; 42 . 7 % , present study ; 51 . 0 % sharks [ 1 ] ; 38 . 3 % , skates [ 2 ] .

the pelvic fins are narrowly rounded and the dorsal fin is small with its origin just posterior to the pelvic fin insertion point . there is no caudal fin on the spotted eagle ray . the tail is very long and whip - like , reaching lengths of 2 . 5 - 3x the width of the disc when undamaged . the stinging spines , originating just behind the dorsal fin , are short and number from 2 - 6 . they have a barbed tip and recurved lateral teeth along with a forked root . these venomous spines can deliver a nasty sting when used in defense against potential threats .

this ray is a bycatch of coastal demersal fisheries but not targeted . towards the end of the 20 th century , benthic trawl effort in the mediterranean sea increased both numerically and technologically . for example , the gulf of lions area was initially exploited by small - scale benthic trawl fisheries comprising 27 small low - powered boats ( total nominal horse power of 2 , 700 hp ) , but effort increased seven - fold to a total of 19 , 940 hp between 1974 and 1987 . following this , half of the benthic trawl fishing effort was displaced to target small pelagic fishes ( aldebert 1997 ) . the adriatic sea is subject to trawling mainly by italian , croatian , slovenian , and albanian fleets but landings data are not available ( jukic - peladic et al . 2001 ) . coastal development , pollution , and anthropogenic disturbance through tourism activities are also a threat to the shallow coastal habitat of this species .

the standardised diets of most species ( 56 . 0 % ) were characterised by use of a single dietary data set , with a further 26 . 7 % based on two data sets ( table 2 ) . the standardised diet of the common stingray dasyatis pastinaca ( linnaeus , 1758 ) was based on the highest number of dietary studies ( n = 5 ) and the largest stomach sample size ( n = 1265 , table s1 ) . the common eagle ray myliobatis aquila ( linnaeus , 1758 ) was the only other species whose standardised diet was based on analysis of over 1000 stomachs . six species ( 8 . 0 % ) had 500–1000 stomach samples ; 35 species ( 46 . 7 % ) between 100 and 500 stomachs , 32 species ( 42 . 7 % ) had fewer than 100 stomachs and the standardised diet of nine species were based on less than 20 stomachs . a full species list including standardised prey contributions and individual t l estimates is provided in table s1 .

as one of the most beautiful rays , the spotted eagle ray has a dramatic spotted pattern across the dorsal side of the body . the small white , bluish - white , greenish , pearly , or yellow spots are distinct against the black , dark gray , or brown body color . a variation on this pattern includes larger white rings each with a black center , and these rings sometimes join to form lines and circles . the ventral surface is white in color , making it easy to see them underwater as they flap their pectoral fins during swimming . the disc and fin outer margins as well as the tail are darkly shaded or black . the tail has a white base and in freshly caught specimens , there may be crossbars on the tail . the upper sides of the pelvic fins are a similar color to the background color of the body along with dark posterior edges and 6 - 10 spots . the dorsal fin is either uniformly dark or has a blotch on the front edge .

when compared , no significant relationship was observed between t l estimates and the dominate descriptors of body size . a weak , negative correlation was detected between t l and maximum disc width for the myliobatoidei species ( spearman rank correlation coefficient , r s = −0 . 1167 , p > 0 . 05 , n = 64 ) . similarly a weak but positive correlation was detected between t l and torpedinoidei total length ( spearman rank correlation coefficient , r s = 0 . 1071 , p > 0 . 05 , n = 8 ) . removal of filter - feeding species from the myliobatoidei sample resulted in a marginal increase in the spearman rank correlation coefficient ( r s = 0 . 1509 , p > 0 . 05 , n = 61 ) . the thorny round stingray urotrygon chilensis ( günther , 1872 ) , dwarf round stingray u . nana miyake & mceachran , 1998 and munda round ray u . munda gill , 1863 were not included in the myliobatoidei analysis due to the unavailability of an accurate measurement of maximum disc width .

continuous feeding , as defined above , is the strategy most frequently employed by stingrays and skates [ 3 ] , [ 35 ] . these species typically ingest prey living on the surface of the substrate or utilise inertial suction to target prey buried in the immediate subsurface layer [ 33 ] , [ 36 ] , with larger species able to ingest larger , more mobile prey [ 37 ] . it is interesting that the diet of species within the narcinidae and narkidae appears to be more consistent with continuous feeding species , whereas species within the torpedinidae and hypnidae have a prey contribution profile consistent with that of the ambush predators ( table 2 , fig . 1 ) . as all of these species possess two well - developed electrical organs [ 12 ] , [ 38 ] it might be expected that the feeding strategies and diets of species within the torpedinoidei would be similar . these differences with respect to the type of prey targeted presumably relates to whether a ray species relies on its electric organs to subdue potential prey , or can forage effectively without recourse to producing electrical discharges .

in contrast , the principal commercial markets for stingray species in the indo - pacific region tend to be artisinal fisheries [ 29 ] , [ 30 ] . the most notable of these occur in the indonesian archipelago which is home to the largest chondrichthyan fishery in the world [ 31 ] . dietary studies in these areas are often impeded by sampling costs , an inability to obtain fresh samples or an inability to adequately process samples e . g . freeze specimens for subsequent analysis . furthermore , the indonesian archipelago has significant problems with respect to illegal , unreported and unregulated shark and ray fishing activity [ 29 ] . as a consequence , dietary studies have a low priority when compared to the quantification of catch rates , determination of population trends [ 29 ] , [ 31 ] and enhancement of baseline biological information , such as growth rates and reproductive parameters [ 32 ] . while stingrays and electric rays are caught in commercial fisheries in australia , their retention is often limited by legislation or low market demand [ 12 ] , and thus this also affects the availability of specimens . further , the collection of specimens for species that do not form part of a commercial catch is generally time consuming and costly .

figure 3 . histological sections of the vesicles of savi on the ventral surface of the lesser electric ray , narcine brasiliensis . a – vesicles of savi are located in sub - epidermal pouches ( p ) below epidermal ( e ) , stratum spongiosum ( ss ) , stratum compactum ( sc ) and loose connective tissue ( ct ) skin layers . scale bar = 200 μ m . b – each vesicle of savi consists of a large central neuromast ( cn ) and two smaller peripheral neuromasts ( pn ) , all innervated by nerve fibers ( ne ) . the cupula ( cu ) of the central neuromast is dense with a striated appearance , while the cupula ( arrowhead ) of the smaller peripheral neuromasts is gelatinous and similar in structure to canal neuromast cupulae . scale bar = 200 μ m . c – vesicles of savi are closely associated with cartilaginous skeletal elements ( cse ) at their base . scale bar = 200 μ m . d – vesicles of savi are located in distinct rows along the ventral rostrum . lumina of adjacent vesicles ( arrows ) do not appear connected but lie approximately 100 μ m apart below loose connective tissue ( ct ) . scale bar = 200 μ m . ventral side is up .

frequency of prey occurrence ( i . e . presence / absence ) , standardised diets and individual t l estimates were calculated for all 75 stingray and electric ray species . an average t l and standardised diet was also calculated for each of the respective families and suborders . calculation of a precision estimate to determine sample size sufficiency for the inclusion of a species in family and suborder level calculations was generally compromised by insufficient information in the source literature [ 2 ] , [ 21 ] . further , restricting the scope of the analyses to studies where sample size had been demonstrated to be sufficient through precision estimates ( i . e . through cumulative prey curves ) [ 21 ] would have resulted in a significant amount of data being omitted from the analysis . given this , the approach taken by cortés [ 1 ] and ebert & bizzarro [ 2 ] was adopted with a minimum sample limit of 20 stomachs set for the inclusion of a species in family and order level calculations . the 20 stomach limit has been used successfully in previous elasmobranch trophic level analyses [ 1 ] , [ 2 ] and is designed to enhance the robustness of conclusions drawn and minimise the influence of species with smaller sample sizes [ 1 ] . of the 75 species , 66 had 20 or more stomachs sampled and were subsequently included in the family and suborder average diet and trophic level calculations .

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vooren , c . m . , piercy , a . n . , snelson jr . , f . f . , grubbs , r . d . , notarbartolo di sciara , g . & serena , s .

patchily distributed in tropical and warm temperate continental shelf waters on the eastern ( portugal to ambriz , angola ) and western ( from massachusetts state , usa ( 42°n ) to buenos aires province , argentina ( ~ 38°s ) ) sides of the atlantic ocean , including the mediterranean sea , the black sea and the madeira and canary islands ( mceachran and fechhelm 1998 ) . rarely reported from the gulf of mexico ( mceachran and carvalho 2002 ) . it has a very patchy distribution in the northwest and western atlantic , where it can be locally abundant and appears to be habitat dependent . adults are common in the mouths of tidal creeks along the virginia coast , usa ( musick et al . unpublished data ) . in the 1980s gymnura altavela was common and abundant throughout the year on the continental shelf of southern brazil at depths of 10 to 150 m , being classified as a breeding resident species ( vooren 1997 ) .

albania ; algeria ; angola ; argentina ; belize ; benin ; bosnia and herzegovina ; brazil ; cameroon ; colombia ; costa rica ; côte d ' ivoire ; croatia ; cyprus ; egypt ; equatorial guinea ; france ; french guiana ; gabon ; gambia ; ghana ; greece ; guinea - bissau ; guyana ; honduras ; israel ; italy ; lebanon ; liberia ; libya ; malta ; mauritania ; mexico ; monaco ; morocco ; nicaragua ; nigeria ; panama ; portugal ; senegal ; sierra leone ; slovenia ; spain ( canary is . ) ; suriname ; syrian arab republic ; togo ; tunisia ; turkey ; united states ; uruguay ; venezuela , bolivarian republic of ; western sahara

a large , locally abundant , but overall unabundant , inshore batoid with a patchy and discontinuous distribution , found in shallow coastal waters over sand and mud generally to depths of 50 to 55 m ( bini 1967 , mceachran and felchman 1998 ) , although it has been recorded from depths of 10 to 150 m off southern brazil ( vooren 1997 ) . little is known of its biology . maximum size is reported as 220 cm disc width ( musick et al . unpub . data ) in the northwest atlantic ; sizes exceeding 400 cm dw reported off the coast of west africa ( bini 1967 ) may be erroneous . size at maturity is reported as 155 cm dw in males and 102 cm dw in females ( daiber and booth 1960 ) . aplacental yolksac viviparous reproduction with litter size varying from 2 to 8 depending on geographic location ( four pups / litter reported by bigelow and schroeder ( 1953 ) and bini ( 1967 ) ; 2 - 6 by capapé et al . ( 1992 ) and 1 - 3 by tortonese ( 1956 ) for the mediterranean ; up to five per litter in southern brazil ( vooren unpub . data ) ; and , up to eight by musick et . al . ( unpub . data ) for the northwest atlantic ) . reproduces annually and gestation time is reported as 4 to 9 months ( capapé et al . 1992 ) . size at birth is reported as 38 to 44 cm dw ( bigelow and schroeder 1953 , mceachran and carvalho 2002 ) . age at maturity , longevity , average reproductive age , annual rate of population increase and natural mortality are all unknown .

no species specific management or protection is currently in place for this species , except for in the banc d ' arguin national park , mauritania where it is protected .

vooren , c . m . , piercy , a . n . , snelson jr . , f . f . , grubbs , r . d . , notarbartolo di sciara , g . & serena , s . 2007 .

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classified as vulnerable ( vu ) on the iucn red list ( 1 ) .

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filiz , h and blige , g . ( 2004 ) length - weight relationships of 24 fish species from the north aegean sea , turkey . journal of applied ichthyology , 20 ( 5 ) : 431 - 432 .

campbell , a . and dawes , j . ( 2004 ) encyclopedia of underwater life . oxford university press , oxford .

mceachran , j . d . and fechhelm , j . d . ( 1998 ) fishes of the gulf of mexico : myxiniformes to gasterosteiformes . university of texas press , austin , usa .

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greek , gymnos = naked + greek , oura = tail ( ref . 45335 )

marine ; brackish ; demersal ; depth range 5 - 100 m ( ref . 6808 ) . subtropical ; 47°n - 39°s , 98°w - 42°e

western atlantic : southern new england , usa , brazil ( ref . 7251 ) to argentina ( ref . 58839 ) . eastern atlantic : portugal to ambriz , angola ( including the mediterranean , black sea , and the madeira and canary islands ) .

maturity : l m ? range ? - ? cm max length : 400 cm wd male / unsexed ; ( ref . 3709 ) ; common length : 200 cm wd male / unsexed ; ( ref . 3709 ) ; max . published weight : 60 . 0 kg ( ref . 4699 )

tail short armed with spine . disk very broad . very low dorsal and ventral finfolds on tail ( ref . 7251 ) . disk dark brown to grayish , lower surface of disc and of pelvic fins white , brownish , rosy or rusty cast . tail white or rosy white below ( ref . 6902 ) .

maximum length measured is 140 cm ( ref . 5377 ) . occurs over sand and mud . feeds on fishes , crustaceans , mollusks and plankton . ovoviviparous , gestation lasting about 6 months with 4 to 7 embryos produced per female ( ref . 6676 ) .

exhibit ovoviparity ( aplacental viviparity ) , with embryos feeding initially on yolk , then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus , fat or protein through specialised structures ( ref . 50449 ) . distinct pairing with embrace ( ref . 205 ) .

bauchot , m . - l . , 1987 . raies et autres batoides . p . 845 - 886 . in w . fischer , m . l . bauchot and m . schneider ( eds . ) fiches fao d ' identificationpour les besoins de la pêche . ( rev . 1 ) . mèditerranée et mer noire . zone de pêche 37 . vol . ii . commission des communautés européennes and fao , rome . ( ref . 3261 )

phylogenetic diversity index ( ref . 82805 ) : pd 50 = 0 . 5000 [ uniqueness , from 0 . 5 = low to 2 . 0 = high ] .

bayesian length - weight : a = 0 . 01445 ( 0 . 00696 - 0 . 03003 ) , b = 3 . 01 ( 2 . 81 - 3 . 21 ) , in cm total length , based on lwr estimates for this species & ( sub ) family - body ( ref . 93245 ) .

trophic level ( ref . 69278 ) : 4 . 5 ±0 . 1 se ; based on diet studies .

resilience ( ref . 69278 ) : very low , minimum population doubling time more than 14 years ( fec 4 - 7 ) .

vulnerability ( ref . 59153 ) : moderate to high vulnerability ( 51 of 100 ) .

the size and the observation of the activities swimming , burying and preying confirmed the adaption of the specimen for the anomaly and underdeveloped electrosensory system in its survival . the limited knowledge of teratogens and their triggering factors , and the striking similarity with an anomaly reported for g . poecilura ( shaw , 1804 ) from south india , suggest genetic expression aberrations or mechanical obstructions during gestation as origin for the disorder .

occurrences of abnormalities have been widely reported for various elasmobranch species in different ecoregions . records for skates and rays include bicephalism in the magdalena transition ( castro aguirre and torres villegas

) , aberrant appendages in the patagonian shelf ( deli - antoni et al .

) , lack of gill - slit and underweight in brackish waters from the tunisian plateau ( el kamel et al .

) , incomplete rostrum in the southwestern caribbean ( ramírez - hernandez et al .

) and have been reported in , e . g the adriatic sea ( valle

is distributed from tropical to warm temperate continental shelf waters on both sides of the atlantic ocean , including the mediterranean sea , the black sea and the madeira and canary islands . maximum size is assumed to be 200 cm disc width . its limiting life history , patchy and discontinuous distribution , and habitat dependent characteristics make it intrinsically vulnerable to population depletion . this species was classified as ‘vulnerable’ on the basis of a suspected continuing decline of at least 30 % ( vooren et al .

on 22 and 28 july 2007 , and 6 july 2008 , during underwater visual census in the port of sardina del norte ( 28°09′ n and 15°41′ o ) , gran canaria island , an unusual female individual g . altavela with 137 cm disc width was observed . size , activity , depth , water temperature and behaviour were recorded .

the interior margin of the specimens’ right pectoral fin was detached from the braincase and the rostral ridge . it appeared as a free lobe slightly projecting forward from the disc plane , with the lateral margin pointed towards the exterior margin of the disc . the anterior margin of the disc was incomplete from the rostral ridge up to the lateral extreme of the spiracle . at the proximal end , the disc was absent up to the neurocranium , extending from the rostral ridge to behind the posterior margin of the spiracle . epidermis pigmentation was absent at the proximal part of the lobe with a similar appearance , in colour and texture , of the white epidermis from the ventral side ( fig .