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Type: Article
Published: 2015-04-22
Page range: 521–548
Abstract views: 37
PDF downloaded: 1

Redescription of the eagle rays Myliobatis hamlyni Ogilby, 1911 and M. tobijei Bleeker, 1854 (Myliobatiformes: Myliobatidae) from the East Indo-West Pacific

CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research, Wealth from Oceans Flagship, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, TAS, 7001, AUSTRALIA
Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3–1–1, Minato-cho, Hakodate, Hokkaido 0418611, JAPAN
Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29401, USA
Pisces taxonomy Japan Australia nomenclature Myliobatis

Abstract

The eagle rays Myliobatis hamlyni Ogilby, 1911 and Myliobatis tobijei Bleeker, 1854 are redescribed based on museum specimens and new material from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. These two species are closely related to Myliobatis aquila (L.) from the eastern Atlantic and can be distinguished from each other by a combination of their coloration, meristics, depth preferences and subtle morphometric characters. Myliobatis hamlyni was previously considered to be an Australian endemic, but its distribution is herein extended northward to Taiwan and Okinawa. Myliobatis tobijei was considered to occur southwards from Japan to Indonesia, but its distribution is herein restricted to the western North Pacific, primarily Japan.