Blackchin guitarfish

How it lives

It is a bottom-dweller of coastal and continental shelf waters, down to about 100 m (330 ft). Young develop inside the mother and are born alive. In Senegal, females become mature at about 163 cm and have 4 to 6 young after 5 to 8 months. In Tunisia, females become mature at about 110 cm. It gathers seasonally to mate and give birth, which makes it easy to catch in trawls and gillnets. Since 2017, researchers in Israel have followed juveniles that often strand on its coast.

Where it goes

It gathers at certain seasons to mate and give birth, and researchers are mapping where juveniles go in the eastern Mediterranean. I did not find a described migration route.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

It lives from northern Portugal to Angola, and in the Mediterranean. IUCN lists it as Critically Endangered (2019), after a fall of more than 90 percent over three decades. It has disappeared from the northern Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands, and catches in Africa are falling too. The eastern and southern Mediterranean remain important. It is listed in CITES Appendix II and on CMS Appendix II (2024). The sources I opened did not give counts for The Gambia or Tunisia.