Acroteriobatus blochii (Müller & Henle, 1841)

Bluntnose Guitarfish

Rhinobatus (Syrrhina) blochii (M̹ller & Henle, 1841): 115, fig. 1, pl. 37. Syntypes: (originally 14, stuffed) MNHN 0000-1256 (1), MNHN 0000-3460 (1 dry), MNHN 0000-3471 (1), MNHN 0000-3473 (1 dry), MNHN 0000- 3474 (1 dry), MNHN A-7853 (1), MNHN A-7854 (3); ZMB 4547 (1). Type locality: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa .

Local synonymy: Rhinobatus blochii: M̹ller & Henle, 1841: 115, fig. 1, pl. 37; Norman, 1926: 969. Rhinobatus blochi: Thompson, 1914: 154; Barnard, 1925: 61. Rhinobatos blochii: Smith, 1949a: 64, fig. 61 (in part, not fig. 61 = A. leucospilus), pl. 3; Compagno, 1986: 130, fig. 27.3, pl. 4; Compagno et al., 1989: 76, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 116. Acroteriobatus blochii: NPOA, 2013: 57; da Silva et al., 2015: 247; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 146; Last et al., 2016b: 465; Séret, 2016: 1360; Séret et al., 2016a: 80, fig. 10.2; Weigmann, 2016: 920.

South Africa voucher material: See above for details on syntypes .

South African distribution: West coast from the Orange River (NC) to Langebaan Lagoon (WC). Its distribution eastwards may extend to Cape Point, but if so, it is rare south of Langebaan .

Remarks: Acroteriobatus blochii was once considered to be very rare and known from only a few specimens, but it was frequently misidentified as A. annulatus along the west coast of South Africa and Namibia. A coastal survey conducted along the west coast of South Africa and Namibia (D.A. Ebert & P.D. Cowley, unpubl. data) revealed this to be the most common guitarfish along the west coast, mostly replacing A. annulatus north of Langebaan Lagoon (WC) and extending into at least central Namibia (Compagno et al., 1989).

Conservation status: LC (2019).