Rhinoptera bonasus, Cownose ray : fisheries, aquarium

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Rhinoptera bonasus (Mitchill, 1815)

Cownose ray
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Rhinoptera bonasus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Rhinoptera bonasus (Cownose ray)
Rhinoptera bonasus
Picture by Schneider, O.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Myliobatiformes (Stingrays) > Rhinopteridae (Cownose rays)
Etymology: Rhinoptera: Greek, rhinos = nose + Greek,pteron = fin, wing (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Mitchill.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 22 m (Ref. 26912). Tropical; 46°N - 42°S, 98°W - 33°W

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

Western Atlantic: from New England (USA) to northern Argentina (Ref. 114953); including northern Florida (USA), throughout the Gulf of Mexico, migrating to Trinidad, Venezuela, Brazil and Uruguay (Ref. 7251).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 65.3, range 62 - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 953.00 g (Ref. 118626)

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).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A benthopelagic species found on continental and insular shelves; enters bays and estuaries; forms huge schools inshore (Ref. 114953). Feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates and molluscs (implicated in damaging seagrass beds) (Ref. 93252, 114953). 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).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Exhibit ovoviparity (aplacental viviparity), with embryos feeding initially on yolk, then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus, fat or protein through specialised structures (Ref. 50449).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Last, P.R., W.T. White, M.R. de Carvalho, B. Séret, M.F.W. Stehmann and G.J.P. Naylor, 2016. Rays of the world. CSIRO Publishing, Comstock Publishing Associates. i-ix + 1-790. (Ref. 114953)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 21 June 2019

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | OceanAdapt | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 20 - 28.1, mean 26.7 °C (based on 643 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5039   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01202 (0.00693 - 0.02085), b=2.98 (2.82 - 3.14), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.2   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (59 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.