Marine Wildlife Encyclopedia
Atlantic Guitarfish Rhinobatos lentiginosus
Atlantic guitarfish are elongated rays with a triangular snout and narrow pectoral fins. Like sharks, these rays use their spineless tails for swimming, while other rays swim by flapping only their pectoral fins. The Atlantic guitarfish has two small dorsal fins set far back near the tip of its tail. Grayish brown with small white spots, it blends in with the sandy seabed, but this ray can be seen in shallow water searching for mollusks and crabs, probing the sand with its snout. Female Atlantic guitarfish are ovoviviparous, giving birth to about six live young.
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- Order Rajiformes
- Length Up to 30 in (75 cm)
- Weight Not recorded
- Depth 0–100 ft (0–30 m)
- Distribution Coastal waters of Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and western Atlantic
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