Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Brown guitarfish (Rhinobatos schlegelii), recorded as Critically Endangered
Brown guitarfish (Rhinobatos schlegelii). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Critically Endangered

Brown guitarfish

Rhinobatos schlegelii

Brown guitarfish is a guitarfish in the family Rhinobatidae (order Rhinopristiformes) — Rhinobatos schlegelii, recorded as Critically Endangered and tied to Japan, Taiwan, and China.

Status
Critically Endangered
Scientific name
Rhinobatos schlegelii
Taxonomy
Elasmobranchii · Rhinopristiformes · Rhinobatidae · Rhinobatos

Appearance

The brown guitarfish is a fish in the Rhinobatidae family.

It is a small shark-like ray, up to 100 cm in total length.

Range and habitat

It is found in North West Pacific between Taiwan and Japan. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, coral reefs, and estuarine waters.

GBIF currently lists 226 occurrence points. Those points follow where people logged the taxon — museum drawers and surveys included — not a closed range boundary.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Breeding

Sharks and rays grow slowly and have few young. A fishery that treats them as bycatch can empty a coastal form.

In crisis

The brown guitarfish is threatened by overfishing.

Brown guitarfish is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Brown guitarfish, Wikidata item Q3767509 and GBIF occurrence geography. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Common guitarfish (Rhinobatos rhinobatos), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Common guitarfish

Rhinobatos rhinobatos
Photograph of Ringstraked guitarfish (Rhinobatos hynnicephalus), recorded as EndangeredEN

Ringstraked guitarfish

Rhinobatos hynnicephalus
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus

Quick answers

What is Brown guitarfish?
Brown guitarfish is a guitarfish in the family Rhinobatidae (order Rhinopristiformes) — Rhinobatos schlegelii.
What is the conservation status of Brown guitarfish?
Critically Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Rhinobatos schlegelii. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Brown guitarfish live?
It is found in North West Pacific between Taiwan and Japan.
Why is Brown guitarfish in crisis?
The brown guitarfish is threatened by overfishing.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Rhinobatos schlegelii?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Brown guitarfish a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.