The stripenose guitarfish (''Acroteriobatus variegatus'') is a species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

in the Rhinobatidae family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the eastern coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and Sri Lanka. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is in the

neritic zone The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

.Kyne, P.M., Simpfendorfer, C., Bineesh, K.K., Moore, A., Jabado, R.W. & Valinassab, T. 2017. Acroteriobatus variegatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T161476A109905030. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T161476A109905030.en. Accessed on 05 February 2022.

Habitat

The stripenose guitarfish lives mainly at the depths of 10 to 40 meters, although specimens of the stripenose guitarfish have been collected at 366 meters. There is some information that indicates that they prefer

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

Size

The stripenose guitarfish is a small fish, with males reaching up to 65 centimeters in length and 75 centimeters for females.. They have a small litter size, usually giving birth to 1 from 4 and at most 6. The generation length of each fish is around five years.

Endangerment

The population of the stripenose guitarfish is declining significantly due to fishing by

trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes ** Trawlers of the Royal Navy * Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built t ...

on the coast of India and Sri Lanka.

References

Acroteriobatus Endemic fauna of India Endemic fauna of Sri Lanka Fish of India Fish of Sri Lanka Fish described in 1973 {{Chondrichthyes-stub