📸 PhotoPhoto: Rhina_ancylostoma.jpg : OpenCage derivative work: Yzx · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Bowmouth guitarfish
Rhina ancylostomus (Bowmouth guitarfish · Bowmouth guitarfish)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum length of 3 m is about two-thirds the length of a passenger car (about 4.5 m) (Comparison).
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 135 kg is the weight of 6–7 bags of 20 kg rice (Comparison).
- 💡 It is commonly caught in bottom tangle nets and is a target of commercial fisheries (FishBase).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The bowmouth guitarfish is a guitarfish-like species with an appearance intermediate between a shark and a ray, living on sandy and muddy bottoms near coasts and coral reefs.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It has a row of large thorns above each eye, down the center of the nape, and on the shoulders, which are used for defense and for head-butting. Its size at maturity is 150–178 cm in total length.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on bottom-dwelling bony fish (such as croakers), crustaceans like crabs and prawns, bivalves, and cephalopods. It is ovoviviparous, with eggs hatching inside the mother to produce litters of 2–11 pups.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is a species recorded in Korea and listed on the National List of Species of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List CR (2019) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41848
- • IUCN Red List category CR — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 4S738
- • iucnredlist.org — 41848
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000057342 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000057342
- • wikidata.org — Q112581093
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Rhina ancylostoma-2.jpg
- • fishbase.se — Rhina-ancylostomus.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — M Kolmann · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Squatina)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.