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Pearl Stingray
The pearl stingray (''Dasyatis margaritella'') is a little-known species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in shallow coastal waters from Mauritania to Angola. Growing to across, this species has a rounded pectoral fin disc with a pointed snout, and a wide band of dermal denticles over the back in adults. It closely resembles and is often confused for the much larger daisy stingray (''D. margarita''); both species are characterized by the presence of an enlarged, nacreous denticle in the middle of the back called a "pearl spine". The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assesses the pearl stingray's conservation status as Near Threatened, but it is likely that most of the historically reported fishery catches of the daisy stingray were in fact of this species. Taxonomy and phylogeny Prior to being described by Leonard Compagno and Tyson Roberts, in a 1984 paper for the ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences'', the pearl stingray was gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno
Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno is an international authority on shark taxonomy and the author of many scientific papers and books on the subject, best known of which is his 1984 catalogue of shark species produced for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Compagno was mentioned in the credits of the 1975 film ''Jaws'' along with the National Geographic Society. Career *Ph.D, Stanford University, 1979 *Adjunct professor, San Francisco State University, 1979 to 1985 *Curator of Fishes in the Division of Life Sciences and Head of the Shark Research Centre (SRC), Iziko Museums, Cape Town *Director, Shark Research Institute(SRI) Selected bibliography *Compagno, L.J.V., 1979. ''Carcharhinoid sharks: morphology, systematics and phylogeny''. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Stanford University, 932 p. Available from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan. *Leonard Compagno, 1984a. FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Specific Name (zoology)
In zoological nomenclature, the specific name (also specific epithet or species epithet) is the second part (the second name) within the scientific name of a species (a binomen). The first part of the name of a species is the name of the genus or the generic name. The rules and regulations governing the giving of a new species name are explained in the article species description. For example, the scientific name for humans is ''Homo sapiens'', which is the species name, consisting of two names: ''Homo'' is the " generic name" (the name of the genus) and ''sapiens'' is the "specific name". Historically, ''specific name'' referred to the combination of what are now called the generic and specific names. Carl Linnaeus, who formalized binomial nomenclature, made explicit distinctions between specific, generic, and trivial names. The generic name was that of the genus, the first in the binomial, the trivial name was the second name in the binomial, and the specific the proper term for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Himantura
''Himantura'' is a genus of stingray in the family Dasyatidae that is native to the Indo-Pacific. In a 2016 taxonomic revision, many of the species formerly assigned to ''Himantura'' were reassigned to other genera ('' Brevitrygon'', '' Fluvitrygon'', '' Maculabatis'', '' Pateobatis'', ''Styracura'' and ''Urogymnus''). Species Four species are recognized as valid by some authors, while other authors recognize five valid species. *''Himantura australis'' Last, White & Naylor, 2016 (Australian whipray) *'' Himantura leoparda'' Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last, 2008 (Leopard whipray) *'' Himantura uarnak'' (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) (Reticulate whipray) *'' Himantura undulata'' (Bleeker, 1852) (Honeycomb whipray) The fifth species, ''Himantura tutul'' (fine-spotted leopard whipray) has had its validity disputed and has been considered a junior synonym of ''H. uarnak'' by the Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smooth Butterfly Ray
The smooth butterfly ray (''Gymnura micrura'') is a species of cartilaginous fish in the family Gymnuridae. It is a member of the order Myliobatiformes, which contains 10 total families. Its natural habitats are shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, estuarine waters, and coastal saline lagoons. Its common name is derived from its compressed body, pectoral fins that are wider than their length, and overall diamond shape. Taxonomy Gymnura is derived from Greek roots and translates into 'naked tail'. They belong to a monophyletic group of Batoid fish. This group contains over 500 other elasmobranch fishes which includes electric rays, sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates, and stingrays. They are a part of Order Myliobatiformes and are characterized by their pectoral fins being widely expanded and fused to their heads. The family Gymnuridae contains 2 genera which encompass 12 different species. Description These are broad diamond-shaped rays with a short tail that has low dorsal and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pale-edged Stingray
The pale-edged stingray or sharpnose stingray (''Dasyatis zugei'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans from India to the western Malay Archipelago and southern Japan. This bottom-dwelling ray is most commonly found over sandy areas shallower than , as well as in estuaries. Measuring up to across, the pale-edged stingray has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc, a long projecting snout, small eyes, and a whip-like tail with both dorsal and ventral fin folds. It is chocolate brown above and white below. The diet of the pale-edged stingray consists mainly of small crustaceans and fishes. Reproduction is aplacental viviparous, with females bearing litters of 1–3 young. Caught as bycatch and utilized for its meat, this species is threatened by heavy fishing pressure throughout its range and has been assessed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Taxonomy and phylogeny German biologists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Himantura Gerrardi
The whitespotted whipray or sharpnose stingray (''Maculabatis gerrardi'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It is found in coastal regions including estuaries, in the Indo-Pacific, and has also been recorded in the Ganges River.Ishihara, H. & Taniuchi, T. & Tanaka, Sho & Srivastava, M.P. (1998) Investigation of the freshwater elasmobranchs in the River Ganges. In Adaptability and conservation of freshwater elasmobranchs. Report of Research Project, Grant–in–Aid for International Scientific Research(Field Research) in the financial year of 1996 and 1997: 41–55 It reaches a maximum disc width of . As presently defined, it is probably a species complex. Etymology The Stingray is named in honor of Edward Gerrard (1810-1910), a taxidermist at the British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister Species
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and taxon B are sister groups to each other. Taxa A and B, together with any other extant or extinct descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), form a monophyletic group, the clade AB. Clade AB and taxon C are also sister groups. Taxa A, B, and C, together with all other descendants of their MRCA form the clade ABC. The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree which offers yet more sister group relationships, both among the leaves and among larger, more deeply rooted clades. The tree structure shown connects through its root to the rest of the universal tree of life. In cladistic standards, taxa A, B, and C may represent specimens, species, genera, or any other taxonomic units. If A and B are at the same taxonomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morphology (biology)
Morphology is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features. This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern, size), i.e. external morphology (or eidonomy), as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs, i.e. internal morphology (or anatomy). This is in contrast to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life science dealing with the study of gross structure of an organism or taxon and its component parts. History The etymology of the word "morphology" is from the Ancient Greek (), meaning "form", and (), meaning "word, study, research". While the concept of form in biology, opposed to function, dates back to Aristotle (see Aristotle's biology), the field of morphology was developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1790) and independently by the German anatomist and physiologist Karl Friedrich Burdach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups of organisms. These relationships are determined by Computational phylogenetics, phylogenetic inference methods that focus on observed heritable traits, such as DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, or morphology. The result of such an analysis is a phylogenetic tree—a diagram containing a hypothesis of relationships that reflects the evolutionary history of a group of organisms. The tips of a phylogenetic tree can be living taxa or fossils, and represent the "end" or the present time in an evolutionary lineage. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about the ancestral line, and does ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ( United Kingdom Overseas Territory).Paul R. Masson, Catherine Anne Pattillo, "Monetary union in West Africa (ECOWAS): is it desirable and how could it be achieved?" (Introduction). International Monetary Fund, 2001. The population of West Africa is estimated at about million people as of , and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 are female and 192,309,000 male. The region is demographically and economically one of the fastest growing on the African continent. Early history in West Africa included a number of prominent regional powers that dominated different parts of both the coastal and internal trade networks, suc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niger Stingray
The Niger stingray or smooth freshwater stingray (''Dasyatis garouaensis'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, native to rivers in Nigeria and Cameroon. Attaining a width of , this species can be distinguished by its thin, almost circular pectoral fin disk, slightly projecting snout tip, and mostly smooth skin with small or absent dermal denticles. The Niger stingray feeds on aquatic insect larvae and is ovoviviparous. The long stinging spine on the tail of this ray can inflict a painful wound. It has been assessed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as its numbers are declining in some areas and it faces heavy fishing pressure and habitat degradation. Taxonomy The original description of the Niger stingray was published by Alfred Stauch and M. Blanc in 1962, in the scientific journal ''Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Série 2)''. The specific epithet ''garouaensis'' refers to the city of Garou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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