Aetomylaeus caeruleofasciatus White, Last & Baje, 2015b

Bluebanded Eagle Ray

Aetomylaeus caeruleofasciatus White, Last & Baje, 2015b: 5, Figs 2 –5a, 6–7, 11–12. Holotype: CSIRO H 6629-01. Type locality: bay south of Eagle Point anchorage, Western Australia.

Local synonymy: Aetomylaeus nichofii— Filewood, 1973: 14 (PNG); Kailola, 1987: 33 (Gulf of Papua; Orangerie Bay). Aetomylaeus caeruleofasciatus White et al., 2015b: 94, fig. 12 (Gulf of Papua); White & Last, 2016a: 710 (southern New Guinea); White et al., 2018: 276, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (26 spec.) CSIRO H 7813-01, female 370 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°10’18” S, 145°58’37” E, 24–25 m depth, 27 Nov. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7818-01, juvenile male 200 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°11’ S, 146°1’ E, 19–20 m depth, 29 Nov. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7831-01, juvenile male 200 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°10’56” S, 144°27’8” E, 25–31 m depth, 10 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8004-01, juvenile male 250 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’31.62” S, 146°1’38.04” E, 16 m depth, 24 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8012-03, juvenile male 340 mm DW, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°20’38.46” S, 146°12’46.38” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8015-01, female 240 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’9” S, 145°59’50.46” E, 15–16 m depth, 29 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8018-01, female 270 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°9’9.78” S, 145°59’2.22” E, 15–18 m depth, 30 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8027-01, juvenile male 260 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°13’5” S, 146°5’23” E, 7–15 m depth, 10 Apr. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8109-01 (dried tooth plates), adult male 480 mm DW, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°16’ S, 146°10’ E, 24–26 m depth, 28 Nov. 2014 ; CSIRO H 8150-01 (jaws and claspers), adult male 430 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’ S, 145°43’ E, 16–20 m depth, 30 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.305 (dried jaws), Orangerie Bay, Jun. 1967 ; KFRS E.533 (2 spec.), juvenile male 224 mm DW, adolescent male 320 mm DW, no collection data; KFRS E.605, female 260 mm DW, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°20’14.52” S, 146°12’31.68” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.606, female 240 mm DW, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°20’19.8” S, 146°12’30.12” E, 9–10 m depth, 28 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.608, female 260 mm DW, southeast of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’58.14” S, 145°46’38.64” E, 15–16 m depth, 30 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.624, adolescent male 370 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°7’33” S, 146°0’24” E, 12–13 m depth, 3 Sep. 2015 ; KFRS E.644, adult male 480 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’53” S, 144°38’21” E, 21–24 m depth, 6 Apr. 2015 ; KFRS E.652 (paratype, field code 210356), adult male 450 mm DW, southwest of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’19” S, 145°36’27” E, 18–19 m depth, 24 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.659 (paratype, field code 210386), adult male 430 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’24” S, 145°40’6” E, 20 m depth, 24 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.701 (paratype, field code 220477), female 220 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’39.6” S, 145°53’57” E, 15–19 m depth, 19 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.724 (paratype, field code 220559), female 230 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’57.6” S, 145°52’1.2” E, 14–17 m depth, 8 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.736 (paratype, field code 220600), female 220 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’22.2” S, 145°46’5.4” E, 18–20 m depth, 12 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.778, female 247 mm DW, KFRS E.779, juvenile male 225 mm DW, KFRS E.780, juvenile male 302 mm DW, no label, new registration number allocated April 2017, no collection data.

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Filewood (1973). Previously considered conspecific with Aetomylaeus nichofii (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), but recently separated as a distinct species. Common in the bycatch of the Gulf of Papua prawn trawl fishery.