Banded Guitarfish
Zapteryx exasperata
Halavi's Guitarfish
Glaucostegus halavi
About
Halavi's guitarfish is a large, flattened ray that lies camouflaged on the seabed, its shark-like tail and wide, rounded snout making it easy to mistake for a small shark at first glance.
- Depth
- up to 100 m
How to tell it apart
Its shark-like tail and flattened, ray-like head can cause confusion with true guitarfish and shovelnose rays. The short, wide, rounded snout is the clearest mark that separates it from species with longer or more pointed snouts.
Appearance
This ray has a short, wide snout with a rounded tip, and a body that blends yellow and grey to match the sea floor it rests on.
Did you know?
Its name comes from the Arabic word halawi, and the species has been recorded in the Mediterranean only twice, in 1997 and 2004, leaving it unclear whether it has settled there permanently.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
