Spiny Butterfly Ray
Gymnura altavela
- Endangered
- Card rarity: Epic
- Sharks and rays
The spiny butterfly ray or giant butterfly ray is a species of butterfly ray, family Gymnuridae, native to the shallow coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean. A large ray that can measure over 2 m across, it may be distinguished from the sympatric smooth butterfly ray by the spine at the base of its tail and by a small tentacular structure on the margin of each spiracle. Slow-reproducing and valued for its meat, in recent decades its population has experienced a decline of over 30%, and it has become Critically Endangered in certain parts of its range.
Classification
- Class
- Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Gymnuridae
- Genus
- Gymnura