Aetobatus flagellum

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Family : Eagle and manta rays; Inhabits inshore waters [1]. Often found in brackish waters[2]. Ovoviviparous[3].

Endangered

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Myliobatidae

Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Head elevated above disc; jaws powerful with large platelike crushing teeth in several rows in eagle rays ; eye and spiracles lateral on head; gill openings about length of eye to much longer ; tail much longer than disc; venemous spine(s) present in some; small dorsal fin; pectoral fins reduced or absent opposite the eyes, but with an anterior subdivision that unites below the tip of the snout forming a subrostral lobe in manta rays. Some known for their leaping ability high into the air . Viviparous with 2-6 fully developed young. Plankton-filtering manta rays are among the largest fishes , but harmless.The family Myliobatidae belongs to the Class Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) and the Order Rajiformes. It contains 7 genera and 42 species. It may be found in Marine and Brackish environments and is primarily Marine. Members of this family are not used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are bearers. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is rajiform. Members of this family have been dated back to the Cretaceous period. Etymology of this family name : Greek, myleys, -eos = mill , millstone + Greek, batis , -idos = ray

Habitat

Typically found in water with a depth of -17 to 0 meters (-56 to 0 feet).[4]

Biome: Brackish water, saltwater . Benthopelagic.

Ecology: Occurs primarily inshore on the inner continental shelf. Reproductive biology , age and growth and dietary compositions are unknown for this species. Suspected low fecundity as with other myliobatids, for example Aetobatus narinari and Aetomylaeus nichofii, which bear litters of up to four offspring (Last and Stevens 1994, Compagno and Last 1999).

Life history parameters
Age at maturity (years): Unknown.
Size at maturity (total length cm): Unknown.
Longevity (years): Unknown.
Maximum size (total length): 126 cm TL ; 47 cm DW (Compagno and Last 1999).
Size at birth (cm): Unknown.
Average reproductive age (years): Unknown.
Gestation time (months): Unknown.
Reproductive periodicity: Unknown.
Average annual fecundity or litter size: Up to 4 (based on similar species)
Annual rate of population increase: Unknown.
Natural mortality: Unknown.[5]


List of Habitats :9.1Marine Neritic - Pelagic 9.9Marine Neritic - Seagrass (Submerged) 9.10Marine Neritic - Estuaries 10.1Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Aetobates flagellum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
2. Raja flagellum Bloch & Schneider, 1801

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Aetobatus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 14 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. arcuatus · A. californicus · A. flagellum (Longheaded Eagle Ray) · A. guttatus (Sharpwing Eagle Ray) · A. irregularis · A. laticeps · A. narinari (White-Spotted Eagle Ray) · A. ocellatus (Winter Skate) · A. peruvianus · Aetomylaeus vespertilio · A. sinhaleyus · A. smithii · A. narinari · A. ocellatus

More Info

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Further Reading

• Anonymous. 2004. Report on the implementation of the UN FAO International Plan of Action for Sharks (IPOA–Sharks). AC20 Inf. 5. Twentieth meeting of the CITES Animals Committee, Johannesburg (South Africa), 29 March–2 April 2004.
• Bloch, M.E. and J.G. Schneider (1801). M.E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit. Jo. Gottlob Schneider, Saxo. Berolini. Sumtibus Austoris Impressum et Bibliopolio Sanderiano Commissum: Berlin. 584 p.
• Carnegie Institution of Washington publication. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1902- ENG url p. 242, p. 282, p. 312.
• Compagno, L.J.V. (1997). Myliobatidae. Eagle rays. In K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) FAO Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Western Central Pacific.
• Compagno, L.J.V. and Last, P.R. 1999. Myliobatidae. Eagle rays. In: K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds) FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 3. Batoid Fishes, Chimaeras and Bony Fishes Part 1 (Elopidae to Linophrynidae). pp. 1511-1519. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Editorial board: editor-in-chief John Tee-Van [and others] New Haven, Sears Foundation for Marine Research, Yale Univ., 1948- ENG url p. 452.
• Hanfee, F. 1999. Management of shark fisheries in two Indian coastal states: Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In: R. Shotton (ed.) Case studies of the management of elasmobranch fisheries. FAO technical paper 378/1, FAO Rome.
• Huang, Z. (2001). Marine species and their distribution in China's Seas. pp. 404- 463. Vertebrata. Smithsonian Institution, Florida, USA. 598 p.
• IGFA (2001). Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
• Kapoor, D., R. Dayal and A.G. Ponniah (2002). Fish biodiversity of India. National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources Lucknow, India.775 p.
• Last, P.R. and Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. CSIRO, Australia.
• McEachran, J.D. and B. Seret (1990). Myliobatididae. p. 67-70. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol
• Mould, B. (1994). A world list of rays. The scientific nomenclature and distribution of the recent Batoidea (Batoidea, Elasmobranchii, Chondrichthyes) University of Nottingham, [UK]. 82 p.
• Nguyen Huu Phung and Tran Hoai Lan (1994). Checklist of marine fishes in Viet Nam. Vol. 1. Amphioxi and Chondrichthyes. Science and Technics Publishing House, Viet Nam.
• Ni, I-H and K-Y Kwok (1999). Marine fish fauna in Hong Kong waters. Zool. Stud. 38(2):130-152.
• Shark Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website.
• Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran (1991). Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 1. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. 541 p.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed April 20, 2007.
• FishBase
• Froese, R., and D. Pauly. FishBase 2004. International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 05, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• McEachran, John (from FishBase).
• White, W.T. 2006. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 05, 2008:

• FishBase: FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle: Ichtyologie

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3855159
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-27240
• Fishbase Species ID: 8973
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 564390
• IUCN ID: 60119
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 101425

Footnotes

1. Compagno, L.J.V. (1997). Myliobatidae. Eagle rays. In K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) FAO Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. The Western Central Pacific. [back]
2. Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran (1991). Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 1. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. 541 p. [back]
3. Dulvy, N.K. and J.D. Reynolds (1997). Evolutionary transitions among egg-laying, live-bearing and maternal inputs in sharks and rays. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 264:1309-1315. [back]
4. Mean = 57.000 meters (187.008 feet), Standard Deviation = 128.170 based on 3 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
5. White, W.T. 2006. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008. [back]

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