Rhinoptera bonasus  (Mitchill, 1815)

Cownose ray
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
| Native range | All suitable habitat | PointMap | Year 2050 |
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Rhinoptera bonasus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Sounds | Google image
Image of Rhinoptera bonasus (Cownose ray)
Rhinoptera bonasus
Picture by Schneider, O.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Myliobatiformes (Stingrays) > Myliobatidae (Eagle and manta rays) > Rhinopterinae
Etymology: Rhinoptera: Greek, rhinos = nose + Greek,pteron = fin, wing (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 22 m (Ref. 26912).   Tropical; 42°N - 1°S, 99°W - 12°W (Ref. 55259)

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 213 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 4441); common length : 120 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Deep grove around front of head below eyes; forehead above groove indented, snout below groove is distinctly bilobed (Ref. 26938). Disk brown to olive above, with no spots or marks, wings long and pointed (Ref. 7251). Lower surface white or yellowish white (Ref. 6902).

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea. Western Atlantic: southern New England to northern Florida (USA) and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, migrating to Trinidad, Venezuela, Brazil and Uruguay (Ref. 7251).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

An oceanic species sometimes found near the coast (Ref. 5217). Forms segregated schools (Ref. 12951). Jumps occasionally, landing with a loud smack, probably as a territorial display. Migrates south in large schools that disappear off northern Florida, USA and are not reported from Caribbean Is.; tagged fish have been recovered in northern South America (Ref. 7251). Population in the Gulf of Mexico migrates clockwise; schools of up to 10,000 rays leave west coast of Florida for Yucatan, Mexico in the fall (Ref. 7251). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Near Threatened (NT) 

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5039   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00383 (-0.25380 - 0.26146), b=3.09 (2.96 - 3.22), based on LWR estimates for this family-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.6 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (45 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.