Big fiddle ray

Big fiddle ray
Great fiddle ray ( Rhynchobatus djiddensis )
Systematics
Subclass : Plate gill (Elasmobranchii) without rank: Stingray (batoidea) Order : Rhinopristiformes Family : Rhinidae Genre : Rhynchobatus Type : Big fiddle ray
Scientific name
Rhynchobatus djiddensis
( Forsskål , 1775)

The great fiddle ray ( Rhynchobatus djiddensis ), also known as the shoulder spot fiddle ray , lives in shallow water at depths of 2 to 50 meters in the Red Sea and in the tropical Indo-Pacific from South Africa to New Caledonia and southern Japan .

features

The fish reach a maximum length of 3.10 meters and a maximum weight of 227 kg. The body is shark-like with two large dorsal fins and a heterocerque caudal fin with a large upper and a small lower lobe. They are gray or yellow-gray on top, have rows of small, white spots and larger black spots at the base of the pectoral fins . The underside is white. Its snout is drawn out into a long rostrum , its mouth is small, and its teeth are flattened.

Way of life

Guitar shark or great fiddle ray off the Maldives

Large gey rays usually stay over sandy areas near coral reefs, also go into the brackish water of estuaries and always swim just above the seabed. They feed on crabs , other large crustaceans , clams , smaller fish, and cephalopods . They multiply ovoviviparously . The fry are 55 to 67 centimeters long at birth and reach sexual maturity at a length of 1.50 meters.

literature

• Dieter Eichler, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish Indo-Pacific . Jahr-Verlag GmbH & Co., ISBN 3-86132-225-0
• Ewald Lieske, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish of the world . Year Top Special Verlag Hamburg, ISBN 3-86132-112-2

Web links

Commons : Great violin ray ( Rhynchobatus djiddensis )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Big fiddle ray on Fishbase.org (English)
• Rhynchobatus djiddensis inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Listed by: Dudley, SFJ & Cavanagh, RD, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2013.