False shark ray

The false shark ray (Rhynchorhina mauritaniensis) is a species of fish in the Rhinidae family and the only species in the genus Rhynchorhina.^[2] This rare ray is only known from shallow coastal Atlantic waters in Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania.^[2][3][4]

False shark ray
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Rhinopristiformes
Family:	Rhinidae
Genus:	Rhynchorhina Séret & Naylor, 2016
Species:	R. mauritaniensis
Binomial name
Rhynchorhina mauritaniensis Séret & Naylor, 2016

The upperparts of the false shark ray are greyish or greenish-brown and densely covered in white spots.^[3] The largest known reliably measured specimen was 2.24 m (7.3 ft) long, but individuals about 2.75 m (9 ft) have been seen.^[2] Overall it resembles the African wedgefish (Rhynchobatus luebberti) found in the same region, but it has a blunt rounded snout somewhat like the shark ray or bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) of the Indo-Pacific. The genus name Rhynchorhina (Rhyncho+rhina) is a reference to this "mix" of features.^[2]

Although long known by the local Imraguen people, the first record confirmed by scientists was in 1998 and it only received its species description in 2016.^[2]

Very little is known about the behavior of the false shark ray, but a 2-metre (6.6 ft) female caught in February had ripe ovocytes and shrimp in the stomach, while another had moray eels in the stomach.^[2]