Bowmouth guitarfish

How it lives

It lives on sandy and muddy seabeds near reefs and wrecks, from about 3 to 90 m. The young develop inside the mother, nourished first by yolk, and litters are 2 to 11 pups, usually about 4, born at about 45 cm. Males mature at about 1.5 to 1.8 m and females above about 1.8 m. FishBase rates its population resilience as very low, with a doubling time of more than 14 years.

Where it goes

Not well tracked. It is described as a strong swimmer that drives itself with its tail like a shark, more active at night and not territorial. In the Gulf of Tadjoura, Djibouti, divers recorded it every November to February over seven seasons between 2015 and 2023, mostly on sand and coral at 20 to 40 m, which suggests animals return to the same area.

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

Critically Endangered (IUCN, 2019). A 2023 study in Djibouti, citing the IUCN, reports declines of more than 80% across its range in the last 45 years. Numbers have fallen substantially in Indonesian waters. It is listed on CITES Appendix II. A regional assessment lists it as Near Threatened in Australia, where turtle excluder devices on trawlers are reported to have helped. In the Gulf of Tadjoura there were 23 sightings over seven seasons (2015 to 2023, with 2020 to 2021 missed), with up to 7 or more at once on 13 January 2017. No global population count was found.