The butterfly rays are the

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

forming the genus ''Gymnura'' and the family Gymnuridae. They are found in warm oceans worldwide, and occasionally in

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

. The body of butterfly rays is flattened and surrounded by an extremely broad disc formed by the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s, which merge in front of the head. They have a very short, thread-like, tail. They are up to in width. McEachran ''et al.'' place the butterfly rays in the subfamily Gymnurinae of the family Dasyatidae, but this article follows FishBase and

ITIS The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagen ...

in treating them as a family.

Species

There are currently 12 species in this genus (others are considered synonyms): butterfly ray

* '' Gymnura altavela'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758) – Spiny butterfly ray * '' Gymnura australis'' ( E. P. Ramsay & Ogilby, 1886) – Australian butterfly ray * '' Gymnura crebripunctata'' ( W. K. H. Peters, 1869) – Longsnout butterfly ray * '' Gymnura japonica'' (

Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temmin ...

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, 1850) – Japanese butterfly ray * '' Gymnura marmorata'' ( J. G. Cooper, 1864) – California butterfly ray * '' Gymnura micrura'' ( Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801) – Smooth butterfly ray * '' Gymnura natalensis'' ( Gilchrist & W. W. Thompson, 1911) – Backwater butterfly ray * '' Gymnura poecilura'' ( G. Shaw, 1804) – Longtail butterfly ray * '' Gymnura tentaculata'' J. P. Müller &

Henle Henle can refer to: * Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, a German physician, pathologist and anatomist (1809–1885) ** Loop of Henle in the kidney, named after Henle *Fritz Henle, a photographer, known as "Mr. Rollei" for his use of the 2.25" square for ...

, 1841 – Tentacled butterfly ray * '' Gymnura zonura'' Bleeker, 1852 – Zonetail butterfly ray *'' Gymnura lessae'' Yokota & Carvalho, 2017– butterfly ray *'' Gymnura sereti'' Yokota & Carvalho, 2017– butterfly ray

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3122687 Gymnuridae Taxa named by Johan Conrad van Hasselt