Blackchin guitarfish
Glaucostegus cemiculus
Banded Guitarfish
Zapteryx exasperata
About
The banded guitarfish is a flat, diamond-bodied ray named for its guitar-like shape. It grows to about 83 cm and is a docile, easily approached bottom-dweller of rocky Pacific coasts.
- Length
- 83 cm
- Depth
- 1–22 m
How to tell it apart
It looks much like its close relative Zapteryx xyster, but that species has yellow eyespots that the banded guitarfish lacks.
Appearance
Its body is a broad, diamond-shaped disc joined to a thick tail ending in a rounded tail fin. The skin is rough, covered in tiny prickles, with a row of larger spikes running down the middle of the back to the first dorsal fin. Colour ranges from dark grey to sandy brown, marked with dark bands across the back. The eyes are large and the snout is short and rounded.
Diet
It is a bottom-feeding predator on rocky reefs, eating mostly crabs and other crustaceans along with small bottom-dwelling fish. Adults sometimes also take fish swimming higher off the bottom. Young guitarfish eat more crustaceans, while adults take more fish.
Breeding
Females give birth to live young in shallow, sandy bays during the warmest part of summer. The pups develop inside the mother, feeding on a yolk sac rather than a placenta. In some populations, females gather in shallow water to give birth while males stay elsewhere, and the sexes meet again only in spring to mate.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
