Plesiobatis daviesi ( Wallace, 1967 )

Plesiobatis daviesi ( Wallace, 1967)

IUCN standard name :: Giant Stingaree Fig. 11 View Figure 11 , Table 2 View Table 2

Material examined.

UPVMI 3112, 368 mm DW, male, fish landing site, Roxas City, Capiz Province, Philippines, trawl, September 2021, coll. M. Batay.

Morphological description.

Body large and depressed, upper surface covered with small dermal denticles; trunk depressed; disc large. Head broad and depressed. Eyes horizontally enlarged, situated dorsolaterally on head; spiracles wide, bigger than eyes, and located just behind them. Snout moderately elongated and broadly pointed; smooth to touch. Mouth straight, and moderately broad. Nostrils extremely wide, circular, and located near mouth; nasal flap short, partially covering nostrils, and fused with broad, short nasal curtains extending to anterior corners of mouth. Teeth small, rounded oval, with 34 rows on both jaws. Pectoral fins very large, smooth, forming almost rounded disc. Pelvic fins small, angular rather than rounded. Gill slits located on underside small, with five on each side. Claspers short and broad. Tail was cut off upon purchase.

Color of fresh specimen. Dorsal area brown, underside white; rear edges of disc and pelvic fins black-brown; no spots or distinct markings observed.

Color of preserved specimen. Dorsal area brown; underside white; black edges on disc and pelvic fins still visible.

Distribution.

Indo – Pacific. western Indian Ocean: South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal) to southern Mozambique, and southern India to Sri Lanka; western Pacific: Philippines, Taiwan, Kyushu – Palau Ridge (Philippine Sea), Ryukyu Islands, Australia, and Hawaii ( Ebert and Aschliman 2022).

DNA barcode.

The COI sequence of 613 bp was submitted to GenBank under accession number OR 614468.

Conservation status.

Least Concern

Remarks.

Plesiobatis daviesi is currently the only recognized valid species in the family Plesiobatidae . This study confirms the occurrence of P. daviesi in the Western Visayas region, adding to its previous records in Negros Oriental (Dumaguete), northern Luzon, and Zamboanga del Norte (Dapitan City) ( Compagno and Last 1999; Compagno et al. 2005). Typically, this species is found on continental slopes at depths ranging from 275 to 680 m ( Compagno and Last 1999; Last et al. 2010). It can reach a maximum total length of 2700 mm ( Compagno and Last 1999), while Philippine records indicate a size range of 507–1550 mm in TL, and 288–800 mm in DW ( Compagno et al. 2005). The collected specimen was identified as P. daviesi based on its large body, pointed snout, soft and fleshy disc, and short, non-whiplike tail. The generated COI sequence formed a single clade with other sequences of P. daviesi , supporting the morphological identification, as shown in Fig. 12 View Figure 12 .