Glaucostegus typus

(Bennett, 1830)

Vernacular names
English : Giant guitarfish
French : Guitare de mer à nez pointu

Classification
Class : Elasmobranchii
Order : Rhinopristiformes
Family : Glaucostegidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
Very large species, growing to over 2,70 meters. Large wedge-shaped disk with broad triangular snout. Back is yellowish to beige. Dorsal fins and edges of disk pale yellow. Sides of snout translucent whitish. Dark blotch on snout apex.

Range and habitat
This species occurs in the Indo-Pacific area, from India to Taiwan, south to Indonesia and north Australia. Lives in estuaries and inshore waters on soft bottom to continental shelf, to 100 m.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
CITES : Appendix II
Status : The species is declining alarmingly because of overexploitation as food because of its fins. Also regularly caught by fisheries as bycatch.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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