- Butterfly ray
Taxobox
name = Butterfly rays
image_caption =Smooth butterfly ray , "Gymnura micrura"
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Chondrichthyes
subclassis =Elasmobranchii
ordo =Rajiformes
familia = Gymnuridae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Aetoplatea " "Gymnura " See text for species.The butterfly rays are a family, Gymnuridae, of rays. They are characterized by an extremely broad disc and a very short tail.
Classification
McEachran et al. place the butterfly rays in the subfamily Gymnurinae of the family
Dasyatidae , [cite book | chapter = Interrelationships of the batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) | author = J. D. McEachran, K. A. Dunn & T. Miyake | title = Interrelationships of Fishes | year = 1996 | publisher = Academic Press | editor = M. L. Stiassny, L. R. Parenti & G. D. Johnson (editors)] but this article followsFishBase andITIS in treating them as a family. [FishBase family | family = Gymnuridae | month = January | year = 2006] [ITIS | ID = 564010 | taxon = Gymnuridae | date = 27 March | year = 2006] There are fourteen species in two genera:
* Genus "Aetoplatea "
**Tentacled butterfly ray , "Aetoplatea tentaculata " Müller & Henle, 1841.
**Zonetail butterfly ray , "Aetoplatea zonura " Bleeker, 1852.
* Genus "Gymnura "
** "Gymnura afuerae " (Hildebrand, 1946).
**Spiny butterfly ray , "Gymnura altavela " (Linnaeus, 1758).
**Australian butterfly ray , "Gymnura australis " (Ramsay & Ogilby, 1886).
**Twin-spot butterfly ray , "Gymnura bimaculata " (Norman, 1925).
**Longsnout butterfly ray , "Gymnura crebripunctata " (Peters, 1869).
** "Gymnura crooki " Fowler, 1934.
**Madeira butterfly ray , "Gymnura hirundo " (Lowe, 1843).
**Japanese butterfly ray , "Gymnura japonica " (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850).
**California butterfly ray , "Gymnura marmorata " (Cooper, 1864).
**Smooth butterfly ray , "Gymnura micrura " (Bloch & Schneider, 1801).
**Backwater butterfly ray , "Gymnura natalensis " (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911).
**Longtail butterfly ray , "Gymnura poecilura " (Shaw, 1804).References
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