Anacanthobatis marmorata ( von Bonde & Swart, 1923 )

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 87-88

Anacanthobatis marmorata ( von Bonde & Swart, 1923)

Spotted Legskate

Leiobatis marmoratus von Bonde & Swart, 1923: 18 , pl. 23. Lectotype: SAIAB [formerly RUSI] 662 selected by Hulley, 1973: 133. Type locality: KwaZulu-Natal coast, 30°09'45''S, 30°58'02''E, South Africa, southwestern Indian Ocean.

Local synonymy: Leiobatis marmoratus: von Bonde & Swart, 1923: 18 , pl. 23; Fowler, 1941: 448. Leiobatis dubius: von Bonde & Swart, 1923: 19 (originally published with genus Leiobatis , but separate errata sheet says that it should be Anacanthobatis ); Fowler, 1941: 448. Anacanthobatis marmoratus: Barnard, 1925: 79 ; Fowler, 1941: 448; Smith, 1949a: 71, fig. 84; Bigelow & Schroeder, 1953: 327; Barnard, 1959: 27, fig., 4; Smith, 1961a: 71, fig. 84; Smith, 1965: 71, fig. 84; Wallace, 1967a: 43, figs 22–23; Hulley, 1973: 131; Hulley, 1986: 126, fig. 26.1; Compagno et al., 1989: 86, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 117; Compagno & Ebert, 2007: 141, fig. 7e; Ebert & Compagno, 2007: 122; Ebert, 2014: 55, fig. 73; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 147. Springeria dubia: Bigelow & Schroeder, 1953: 328 . Anacanthobatis marmorata: Séret et al., 2016c: 496 , fig. 22.1; Weigmann, 2016: 961.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB [formerly RUSI] 662, SAIAB 10430.

South African distribution: Known from a few records off KZN.

Remarks: A regional endemic to KZN and Mozambique. There are two WC records from near Mossel Bay, but these require confirmation since this area has been heavily surveyed without a single specimen being captured ( von Bonde, 1933: Compagno & Ebert, 2007).

Conservation status: NT (2020).