Puneet Varma (Editor)

Butterfly ray

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Subclass
  
Elasmobranchii

Scientific name
  
Gymnura

Rank
  
Genus

Phylum
  
Chordata

Order
  
Myliobatiformes

Higher classification
  
Butterfly ray

Butterfly ray Information about the Spiny Butterfly Ray Gymnura altavela

Family
  
GymnuridaeFowler, 1934

Lower classifications
  
Spiny butterfly ray, Smooth butterfly ray, Longtail butterfly ray, California butterfly ray, Backwater butterfly ray

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The butterfly rays are the rays forming the genus Gymnura and the family Gymnuridae. They are found in warm oceans worldwide, and occasionally in estuaries.

Contents

Butterfly ray Spiny butterfly ray videos photos and facts Gymnura altavela ARKive

The body of butterfly rays is flattened and surrounded by an extremely broad disc formed by the pectoral fins, which merge in front of the head. They have a very short, thread-like, tail. They range from 31 cm (12 in) to 4 m (13 ft) in width.

Butterfly ray Spiny butterfly ray photo Gymnura altavela G74700 ARKive

McEachran et al. place the butterfly rays in the subfamily Gymnurinae of the family Dasyatidae, but this article follows FishBase and ITIS in treating them as a family.

Butterfly ray httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

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Species

There are currently 14 species in this genus:

Butterfly ray Spiny butterfly ray Sarasota Fins

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

    • References

    Butterfly ray Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA