Butterfly ray
The butterfly rays are the rays forming the genus Gymnura and the family Gymnuridae. They are found in warm oceans worldwide, and occasionally in estuaries.
The body of butterfly rays is flattened and surrounded by an extremely broad disc formed by the pectoral fins, which merge in front of the head. They have a very short, thread-like, tail. They are up to in width.
McEachran et al. place the butterfly rays in the subfamily Gymnurinae of the family Dasyatidae, but this article follows FishBase and ITIS in treating them as a family.
Species
There are currently 14 species in this genus :Gymnura afuerae Gymnura altavela – Spiny butterfly rayGymnura australis – Australian butterfly rayGymnura crebripunctata – Longsnout butterfly rayGymnura hirundo – Madeira butterfly rayGymnura japonica – Japanese butterfly rayGymnura lessae – Lessa's butterfly rayGymnura marmorata – California butterfly rayGymnura micrura – Smooth butterfly rayGymnura natalensis – Backwater butterfly rayGymnura poecilura – Longtail butterfly rayGymnura sereti – Seret's butterfly rayGymnura tentaculata – Tentacled butterfly rayGymnura zonura – Zonetail butterfly ray;SynonymsGymnura bimaculata - synonym of Gymnura japonicaGymnura crooki Fowler, 1934 - synonym of ''Gymnura poecilura''
Fossil taxa
The following fossil gymnurid genera are known:- †Subathunura Kumar & Loyal, 1987
- †Jacquhermania Cappetta, 1982
- †Ouledia Cappetta, 1986
- †Pachygymnura Adnet et al., 2020
- †Gymnura delpiti Cappetta, 1984
- †Gymnura grootaerti Herman, 1984
- †Gymnura ''hovestadti Herman, 1984
- †Gymnura laterialata Werner, 1989
- †Gymnura transita'' Averianov & Udovitshenko, 1993