Himantura australis Last, White & Naylor, 2016f

Australian Whipray

Himantura australis Last, White & Naylor, 2016f: 378, Figs 1 –5. Holotype: CSIRO H 7798-04. Type locality: west of Oriomo River, Western Province.

Local synonymy: Trygon uarnak— Peters, 1877: 853 (Carteret Islands). Himantura uarnak— Munro, 1958: 114 (Carteret Islands); Munro, 1967: 15 (New Guinea); Filewood, 1973: 12 (PNG); Haines, 1979a: 6 (Purari Delta); Haines, 1979b: 94 (Purari Delta); Taniuchi & Shimizu, 1991: 5 (Oriomo River estuary). Himantura fava— Kailola, 1987: 28 (Yule Island). Himantura australis Last et al., 2016f: 378, Figs. 1 –5 (Western Province); Last et al., 2016a: 561 (New Guinea); White et al., 2018: 228, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (11 spec.) CAS SU 28205, juvenile male 277 mm DW, Rabaul, East New Britain, 28 Apr. 1929 ; CSIRO H 8100-03, juvenile male 237 mm DW, Motupore Island, Bootless Bay, 9°31'19" S, 147°17'2" E, <1 m depth, 15 Sept. 2016 ; CSIRO H 7798-04 (holotype), juvenile male 415 mm DW, west of Oriomo River, Western Province, 9°04.43’ S, 143°08.53’ E, 25 Oct. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7839-01 (paratype), juvenile male 333 mm DW, Daru fish market, Western Province, 9°03.91’ S, 143°12.59’ E, 21 Oct. 2014 ; CSIRO H 7840-01 (paratype), juvenile male 241 mm DW, fishing camp near Daru, Western Province, 9°02.26’ S, 143°11.49’ E, 24 Oct. 2014 ; KFRS E.123, female 292 mm DW, Yule Island, Central Province, Aug. 1964 ; KFRS E.615, juvenile male 240 mm DW, Mullins Harbour, 10°26’50” S, 145°56’27” E, <1 m depth, 11 Mar. 2016 ; KFRS E.768 (paratype, field accession 230247), late-term embryo 300 mm DW (from female 1400 mm DW), south of Purari River, Gulf of Papua, 7°55’S, 145°09’ E, 16–18 m depth, 1 Dec. 2014 ; KFRS E.769 (paratype, field accession 220349), juvenile female 350 mm DW, Katatai, Western Province, 9°01.25’ S, 143°20.51’ E, 23 Oct. 2014 ; KFRS E.770 (paratype, field accession 220420), juvenile female 286 mm DW, fishing camp near Daru, Western Province, 9°02.26’ S, 143°11.49’ E, 24 Oct. 2014 ; USNM 218545, juvenile male 280 mm DW, east side of Daru wharf, Daru, 10 Oct. 1975 .

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Peters (1877) as Trygon uarnak . Previously thought to be conspecific with the wider ranging Himantura uarnak (Gmelin, 1789) but recently separated as a distinct species found in northern Australia and New Guinea; records from northern PNG and the outer islands, e.g. the Carteret Islands, need to be validated as being this species. Common in bycatch of the Gulf of Papua prawn trawl fishery and coastal seine net fisheries during recent surveys.