Ringstraked Guitarfish

The ringstraked guitarfish is a small inshore guitarfish species found in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Specifically, it is found in the warm temperate and tropical waters in the Northwest Pacific and is native to China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

The Ringstraked guitarfish is native to East Asia

This species has been studied in China, where litters of between 2 to 9 pups have been born after a gestation period of 1 year. It is known to be taken in year-round by commercial trawlers and gillnet fishers in China. It is easy to catch them via trawls, gillnets, and line and siene nets due to the fact it is found inshore of the continental shelf. As a result, this species is labeled as ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN.

The ringstraked guitarfish reaches up to a total length of 62.2 centimetres. When it is born, it is 16 cm. It reproduces annually, and females are around 39 to 44 cm at maturity, while males are smaller at maturity at only 38 to 40 cm.

Can you spot the ringstraked guitarfish?

Its habitat requirements are not well known as more research is required. However, what we do know is that the inshore areas are important as a nursery area for this species. Sadly, as mentioned above, this is being impacted upon by fisheries and environmental pollution.