Family Glaucostegidae - Giant guitarfishes
Order : Rhinopristiformes Glaucostegidae
Class : Elasmobranchii
No. in FishBase : Genera : 1 | Species : 10 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
Environment : Fresh : Yes | Brackish : Yes | Marine : Yes
Division :
Aquarium :
First Fossil Record :      
Remark : Indo-Pacific and Eastern Atlantic, including Mediterranean Sea; tropical and subtropical inshore continental and insular seas; intertidal habitats and some species are recorded from fresh and brackish waters; Bottom-dwellers, often resting on soft mud or sandy bottoms; strong swimmers.

Species of this family are characterized by a flattened, spade-like to wedge-shaped disc and a robust, depressed hark-liketrunk; snout typically long and its tips varies from being acute or bluntly rounded, to protruding forward as a large, bulbous lobe; eyes typically small and widely separated, spiracles small with 1-2 variably developed folds; nostrils long and almost transverseto oblique with many lamellae (up to 94); no nasal curtain, anterior nasal flaps are relatively narrow and joined posteriorly to the inner edge of the nostril; mouth profile straight;;skin with fine denticles, with small thorns variably confied to a row along mid-line of body and small patches near eyes, on shoulder and sometimes on snout (often better developed in young than adults; long-based pelvic fins positioned laterally, posterior to the disc; 2 similarly-shaped, upright dorsal fins are well separated, the first positioned well behind the tips of the pelvic fins; small, posteriorly directed caudal fin without ventral lobe typical of wedgefishes (Rhinidae); colour plain browish or greyish dorsally with anterior cranium and rostral cartilage sharply demarcated from a much paler translucent snout; none of the species has spots, stripes nor blotches; underside usually white but the ventral snout appears weakly translucent nad it tip can hav ea black blotch.

Feed mainly on benthic invertebrates, including small benthic fishes.

Ovoviviparous.

Maximum size: most exceed 2 m TL and some reaching 3 m TL or more.

Etymology :
Reproductive guild :
Typical activity level :
Main Ref. : Last, P.R., W.T. White, M.R. de Carvalho, B. Séret, M.F.W. Stehmann and G.J.P. Naylor 2016
Coordinator :
Deep Fin Classification :

Show species images | Show valid names | Nominal species list | CAS specimen photos | References

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948 ]
Glossary
[ e.g. oophagy ]


Species/Synonymy list for the family Glaucostegidae as currently in FishBase

Important recommendation:

The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.

Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.

But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.

Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.

This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).

The list ordered as follows:

Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.

Show all | Show only accepted name | Show only accepted and original names
Scientifc name Status Senior/Junior synonym Combination
Glaucostegus halavi (Fabricius, 1775)
acceptedseniornew
Rhinobatos halavi (Fabricius, 1775)
synonymseniornew
Scobatus halavi (Fabricius, 1775)
synonymseniornew
! Raia halavi Fabricius, 1775
synonymseniororiginal
! Rhinobatus halavi (Fabricius, 1775)
synonymseniornew
Raja halavi Forsskål, 1775
synonymseniororiginal
Glaucostegus thouin (Anonymous [Lacepède], 1798)
acceptedseniornew
Raja thouin Anonymous [Lacepède], 1798
synonymseniororiginal
Rhinobatos thouin (Anonymous [Lacepède], 1798)
synonymseniornew
! Rhinobatos thouini (Anonymous [Lacepède], 1798)
synonymseniornew
! Rhinobatus thouini (Anonymous [Lacepède], 1798)
synonymseniornew
Glaucostegus cemiculus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
acceptedseniornew
! Rhinobatus cemiculus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817
synonymseniororiginal
Rhinobatos cemiculus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817
synonymseniororiginal
! Rhinobathos cemiculus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817
synonymseniororiginal
! Rhinobatus rasus Garman, 1908
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniorchange in rank
Rhinobatos rasus Garman, 1908
synonymjuniororiginal
! Rhinobatus congolensis Giltay, 1928
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Rhinobatos halavi (Fabricius, 1775)
misappliedmisappliednew
Rhinobatos granulatus (non Cuvier, 1829)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Rhinobatos columnae (non Bonaparte, 1836)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
acceptedseniornew
! Rhinobatus granulatus Cuvier, 1829
synonymseniororiginal
synonymseniororiginal
Scobatus granulatus (Cuvier, 1829)
synonymseniornew
! Rhinobatos granulates (Cuvier, 1829)
synonymseniornew
Rhinobatus acutus Garman, 1908
synonymjuniororiginal
Glaucostegus typus (Anonymous [Bennett], 1830)
acceptedseniornew
Rhinobatus typus Anonymous [Bennett], 1830
synonymseniororiginal
Rhinobatos typus (Anonymous [Bennett], 1830)
synonymseniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
Rhinobatos armatus (Gray, 1834)
synonymjuniornew
Rhinobatos batillum Whitley, 1939
synonymjuniororiginal
! Rhinobatos batillium Whitley, 1939
synonymjuniororiginal
! Rhinobatus batillum Whitley, 1939
synonymjuniororiginal
Rhinobatus granulatus (non Cuvier, 1829)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Glaucostegus obtusus (Müller & Henle, 1841)
acceptedseniornew
! Rhinobatus obtusus Müller & Henle, 1841
synonymseniororiginal
Rhinobatos obtusus Müller & Henle, 1841
synonymseniororiginal
Glaucostegus spinosus (Günther, 1870)
acceptedseniornew
! Rhinobatus spinosus Günther, 1870
synonymseniororiginal
Rhinobatos spinosus Günther, 1870
synonymseniororiginal
Glaucostegus petiti (Chabanaud, 1929)
acceptedseniornew
! Rhinobatus petiti Chabanaud, 1929
synonymseniororiginal
Rhinobatos petiti Chabanaud, 1929
synonymseniororiginal
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Glaucostegus younholeei Habib & Islam, 2001
acceptedseniororiginal
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