Panray Explained
The panrays are a genus, Zanobatus, of rays found in coastal parts of the warm East Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Morocco to Angola.[1] It is the only genus in the family Zanobatidae, which traditionally has been included in the Myliobatiformes order, but based on genetic evidence it is now in Rhinopristiformes[2] [3] or a sister taxon to Rhinopristiformes.[4]
The two species of panrays are generally poorly known and one of the species was only scientifically described in 2016.[1] [5] They are up to about 60abbr=onNaNabbr=on long, and brownish above with a heavily mottled, blotched or barred dark pattern. They are ovoviviparous and feed on benthic invertebrates.[1]
Species
There are two recognized species in the genus:[1] [5]
- Maculate panray (Zanobatus maculatus)
- Striped panray (Zanobatus schoenleinii)
Notes and References
- Book: Last. White. de Carvalho. Séret. Stehmann. Naylor . Rays of the World . 2016 . . 134–136 . 9780643109148 .
- Book: Naylor, G.J.P.. Caira, J.N.. Jensen, K.. Rosana, K.A.M.. Straube, N.. Lakner, C. . 2012 . Elasmobranch Phylogeny: A Mitochondrial Estimate Based on 595 Species . Carrier, J.C.. Musick, J.A.. Heithaus, M.R. . Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives . 2 . CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida . 31–56.
- Aschliman. Nishida. Miya. Inoue. Rosana. Naylord . 2012 . Body plan convergence in the evolution of skates and rays (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 63 . 1 . 28–42 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.012. 22209858 .
- Last, P.R.. Séret, B.. Naylor, G.J.P. . 2016 . A new species of guitarfish, Rhinobatos borneensis sp. nov. with a redefinition of the family-level classification in the order Rhinopristiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) . Zootaxa . 4117 . 4 . 451–475 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4117.4.1 . 27395187.
- Séret, B. . 2016 . Zanobatus maculatus, a new species of panray from the Gulf of Guinea, eastern central Atlantic (Elasmobranchii: Batoidea: Zanobatidae) . Zootaxa . 4161 . 4 . 509–522 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4161.4.2 . 27615946 .
