Maculabatis astra (Last, Manjaji-Matsumoto & Pogonoski, 2008)

Blackspotted Whipray

Himantura astra Last, Manjaji-Matsumoto & Pogonoski, 2008: 304, Figs 1 –5. Holotype: CSIRO H 3377-01. Type locality: Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia.

Local synonymy: Himantura uarnak— Munro, 1967: pl. 2, fig. 18 (New Guinea). Himantura gerrardi— Kailola, 1987: 28 (Darapap; near New Britain; Port Romilly; Yule Island; Orangerie Bay). Himantura astra— Last & Stevens, 2009: 441 (New Guinea). Maculabatis astra —Last et al., 2016a: 575 (southern New Guinea); White et al., 2018: 232, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (25 spec.) CSIRO H 7617-02, female 240 mm DW, southwest of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’3.6” S, 145°37’52.2” E, 16 m depth, 15 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7808-01, juvenile male 170 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’3.6” S, 145°44’12” E, 16 m depth, 17 Jun. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7814-02, juvenile male 260 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 7°58’52” S, 144°40’7” E, 22–23 m depth, 28 Nov. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7822-01, female 330 mm DW, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°40’ S, 144°6’ E, 14–18 m depth, 5 Dec. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7826-01, juvenile male 440 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°3’22” S, 144°40’17” E, 28–29 m depth, 6 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.528, female 238 mm DW, KFRS E.529, female 205 mm DW, KFRS E.530, female 238 mm DW, KFRS E.531, juvenile male 221 mm DW, no collection data; KFRS E.602, female 220 mm DW, west of Avirara, Gulf of Papua, 8°19’44.22” S, 146°13’39.18” E, 10–11 m depth, 25 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.649, female 260 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 7°58’52” S, 144°40’7” E, 22–23 m depth, 28 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.650, juvenile male 220 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°1’59” S, 144°35’28” E, 21 m depth, 29 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.661, juvenile male 190 mm DW, KFRS E.662, female 190 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’43” S, 145°40’6” E, 23–24 m depth, 26 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.663, juvenile male 210 mm DW, KFRS E.664, female 150 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°10’18” S, 145°58’37” E, 24–25 m depth, 27 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.666, female 520 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°5’56” S, 145°56’17” E, 23–25 m depth, 27 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E. 728, 200 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’33” S, 145°47’18” E, 16–19 m depth, 7 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.732, female 220 mm DW, KFRS E.733, female 370 mm DW, Freshwater Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’45.6” S, 145°50’49.8” E, 21–22 m depth, 13 Jun. 2014 ; KFRS E.744, female 250 mm DW, south of Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 8°4’ S, 145°43’ E, 16–20 m depth, 30 Nov. 2014 ; KFRS E.746, female 480 mm DW, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°41’ S, 144°8’ E, 20 m depth, 2 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.762, juvenile male 190 mm DW, south of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°2’31” S, 144°38’46” E, 21–23 m depth, 16 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.782, female 163 mm DW, no collection data; USNM 218546, juvenile male 270 mm DW, east side of Daru wharf, Daru, Western Province, 10 Oct. 1975 .

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Munro (1967) as a misidentification of Himantura uarnak . Very similar to Maculabatis toshi (see below) but differs in subtle morphological characters and colour pattern (spotted vs. mostly plain); but colour varies greatly across a large number of individuals so it is possible these species are in fact conspecific. Very common in the bycatch of the Gulf of Papua prawn trawl fishery. Previously placed in the genus Himantura .