Just got this image from Jim Greenfield of a Rhynchobatus (posterior margin of pectoral fin well seperated from anterior margin of pelvic fin, large dorsal fins, caudal fin with long lobe, snouth pointed). The photo was taken in Reethi Beach, Maldives last month. Its length was 2.5 to 3 m.
I think it is an adult Rhynchobatus djiddensis, because the large black pectoral marking is missing.
Any other ideas?
Difficult to see some of the important characters, but Rhynchobatus australiae Whitley 1939 is more likely.
Oh thanks, just read the description of Last et al., they wrote "...a line of three white spots over the pectoral marking (usually 2 spots below) distinguishes this wedgefish from its relatives". The pictured one has this row of three spots, and one below!
Yep, I think Ronald is right. R. djiddensis has an ocellum over each pectoral fin.
R. australiae seems to have a wide distribution in the Indian Ocean and looks more similar to the one in your picture. We have sampled some specimens from Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and other places and the information about each specimen is in our data base.
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