Rhynchobatus australiae Whitley, 1939b

Whitespotted Wedgefish

Rhynchobatus djiddensis australiae Whitley, 1939b: 245, Fig. 14. Holotype: AMS IA.4959. Type locality: off Manning River mouth, New South Wales, Australia.

Local synonymy: Rhynchobatus djiddensis— Filewood, 1973 (in part): 10 (PNG). Rhynchobatus australiae— White et al., 2018: 202, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: None.

Remarks: Filewood (1973) recorded only Rhynchobatus djiddensis from PNG; included in synonymy of this species and R. palpebratus by default but may not have encountered both species at that time. Recently verified from coastal fisheries catches from the Milne Bay Province and from underwater photographs taken off Kavieng by D. Amon (Lissenung Island).