Himantura sp.

Himantura sp.

Figs 14 View Figure 14 , 15 View Figure 15 , Table 2 View Table 2

Material examined.

UPVMI 3111, 377 mm DW, male, fish market, Carles, Iloilo Province, Philippines, February 2022, coll. R. P. Babaran.

Morphological description.

Body large; dorsal surface with median row of denticles extending from eye area to tail base, and two heart-shaped thorns located in center; disc wide, rhomboidal. Eyes moderately large; spiracles very wide with few denticles. Snout triangular with pointed tip. Mouth narrow; labial furrows not developed. Nostrils extremely wide, located just above mouth; nasal flap skirt-shaped, very short, not reaching mouth. Pectoral-fin apex rounded to angular; front margins slightly concave; posterior margins convex. Pelvic fin short, triangular with broad apex. Tail was cut off upon purchase. Gill slits located on underside, moderately small, with five slits on each side.

Color of fresh specimen. Dorsal surface and fins light brown with numerous, irregular brown spots; ventral area white.

Color of preserved specimen. Dorsal surface dark brown with light brown margins; spots still visible; ventral area pale white.

DNA barcode.

The COI sequence of 617 bp was submitted to GenBank with accession number OR 614479.

Remarks.

Borsa et al. (2021) identified seven distinct species within the genus Himantura , including Himantura australis Last, White et Naylor, 2016 a , Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto et Last, 2008 , Himantura tutul Borsa, Durand, Shen, Alyza, Solihin et Berrebi, 2013 , Himantura undulata ( Bleeker, 1852) , Himantura uarnak ( Gmelin, 1789) , Himantura sp. 1 , and Himantura sp. 2 . Sequences representative of each species were selected to construct a phylogenetic tree aimed at determining the identity of the specimen from Panay Island, with H. tutul used as outgroup (Fig. 15 View Figure 15 ). The results indicate that the collected specimen clusters within the clade corresponding to Himantura sp. 1 sensu Borsa et al. (2021). The identification of this specimen remains provisional, pending the formal description of Himantura sp. 1 as outlined by Borsa et al. (2021).