iButterfly rays
Smooth butterfly ray, Gymnura micrura
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Chondrichthyes Subclass: Elasmobranchii Order: Rajiformes Family: Gymnuridae
Genera
Aetoplatea Gymnura See text for species. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera Subregnum Eumetazoa Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Acoelomorpha Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Chaetognatha Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora Superphylum Lophotrochozoa Sipuncula Nemertea Phoronida Bryozoa Entoprocta Brachiopoda... {{{subdivision_ranks}}} See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Orders The Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fishes are jawed fish with paired fins, paired nostrils, scales, two-chambered hearts, and skeletons made of cartilage. ... Superorders Galeomorpha Batoidea Selachimorpha Elasmobranchii is the subclass of cartilaginous fishes that includes skates, rays and sharks. ... Families Anacanthobatidae Dasyatidae Gymnuridae Hexatrygonidae Myliobatidae Plesiobatidae Potamotrygonidae Rajidae Rhinobatidae Urolophidae Rajiformes is the order of true rays and skates, flat-bodied cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. ...

The butterfly rays are a family, Gymnuridae, of rays. They are characterized by an extremely broad disc and a very short tail. Orders Rajiformes - common rays and skates Pristiformes - sawfishes Torpediniformes - electric rays See text for families. ...

Classification

McEachran et al. place the butterfly rays in the subfamily Gymnurinae of the family Dasyatidae,^[1] but this article follows FishBase and ITIS in treating them as a family.^[2][3] Genera Dasyatis Himantura Pastinachus Pteroplatytrygon Taeniura Urogymnus Stingrays are rays in the family Dasyatidae. ... FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish. ... The Integrated Taxonomic Information System or ITIS is a partnership designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ...

There are fourteen species in two genera:

• Genus Aetoplatea
  • Tentacled butterfly ray, Aetoplatea tentaculata Müller & Henle, 1841.
  • Zonetail butterfly ray, Aetoplatea zonura Bleeker, 1852.
• Genus Gymnura
  • Gymnura afuerae (Hildebrand, 1946).
  • Spiny butterfly ray, Gymnura altavela (Linnaeus, 1758).
  • Australian butterfly ray, Gymnura australis (Ramsay & Ogilby, 1886).
  • Twin-spot butterfly ray, Gymnura bimaculata (Norman, 1925).
  • Longsnout butterfly ray, Gymnura crebripunctata (Peters, 1869).
  • Gymnura crooki Fowler, 1934.
  • Madeira butterfly ray, Gymnura hirundo (Lowe, 1843).
  • Japanese butterfly ray, Gymnura japonica (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850).
  • California butterfly ray, Gymnura marmorata (Cooper, 1864).
  • Smooth butterfly ray, Gymnura micrura (Bloch & Schneider, 1801).
  • Backwater butterfly ray, Gymnura natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911).
  • Longtail butterfly ray, Gymnura poecilura (Shaw, 1804).

Johannes Peter Müller (July 14, 1801, Koblenz – April 28, 1858, Berlin), was a German physiologist, comparative anatomist, and ichthyologist not only known for his discoveries but also for his ability to synthesize knowledge. ... Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle (b. ... Pieter Bleeker (1819 - 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist, famous for his work on the fishes of East Asia. ... Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... William Ogilby (1808 - 1873) was an Irish barrister and naturalist. ... Wilhelm Karl Hartwich Peters (April 22, 1815 - April 20, 1883) was a German naturalist and explorer. ... Coenraad Jacob Temminck (March 31, 1778 - January 30, 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist. ... Hermann Schlegel. ... Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723 - 1799) was a German medical doctor and naturalist. ... Johann Gottlob Schneider (January 18, 1750 - January 12, 1822), German classical scholar and naturalist, was born at Koilmen in Saxony. ...

References

1. ^ J. D. McEachran, K. A. Dunn & T. Miyake (1996). “Interrelationships of the batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea)”, M. L. Stiassny, L. R. Parenti & G. D. Johnson (editors): Interrelationships of Fishes. Academic Press.
2. ^ "Gymnuridae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
3. ^ Gymnuridae (TSN 564010). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 27 March 2006.