Myliobatidae

Biscoito, Manuel, Ribeiro, Cláudia & Freitas, Mafalda, 2018, Annotated checklist of the fishes of the archipelago of Madeira (NE Atlantic): I-Chondrichthyes, Zootaxa 4429 (3), pp. 459-494 : 482

Family Myliobatidae

* Myliobatis aquila (Linnaeus, 1758) —Ratão-águia; Common eagle ray

Günther 1870: 489 | Noronha & Sarmento 1934: 124 | Nobre 1935: 489 | Fowler 1936: 134 | Noronha & Sarmento 1948: 122 | Maul 1948: 140 | Nunes 1953: 199 | Albuquerque 1954 –56: 177 | Krefft & Stehmann 1973b: 74 | McEachran & Capapé 1984: 206 | Sanches 1986: 117 | Lloris et al. 1991: 233 | Wirtz et al. 2008: 5 | Ebert & Stehmann 2013: 405| Carneiro et al. 2014: 16 | Almada et al. 2015: 4.

Belloc 1934: 175 (as Leiobatus aquila ).

Distribution in Macaronesia. Madeira, Azores ( Santos et al. 1997; Arruda 1997; Porteiro et al. 2010; Carneiro et al. 2014), Canary Islands ( Brito et al. 2002; Brito Hernández & Sancho Rafel 2003) and Cape Verde ( Reiner 1996, 2005; Wirtz et al. 2013; Hanel & John 2014).

Remarks. one preserved specimen in BMNH (1898.1.26.47), five formalin and ethanol preserved specimens in MMF collection (dated from 1960 to 2006). Although Maul (1948) refers as coastal and rare, it is commonly observed in Madeira and Porto Santo. At least 12 specimens collected off Madeira’s north coast between 2005 and 2014 lived from a few months to 10 years in the Aquarium of Porto Moniz ( Carolina Ornelas , pers. comm.).

Aetomylaeus bovinus (Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1817) —Dormideiro; Bull ray

Lowe 1838: 196, 1843–60: 99 (as Myliobatis aquila )

Günther 1870: 490 | Noronha & Sarmento 1934: 124 (as Myliobatis bovina )

Nobre 1934: 490 | Fowler 1936: 135 | Maul 1948: 140 | Nunes 1953: 199 | Albuquerque 1954 –56: 178 (as Pteromylaeus bovina )

Krefft & Stehmann 1973b: 74 | McEachran & Capapé 1984: 206 | Sanches 1986: 118 | Lloris et al. 1991: 236 | Wirtz et al. 2008: 5 | Ebert & Stehmann 2013: 407 | Carneiro et al. 2014: 16 | Almada et al. 2015: 4 (as Pteromylaeus bovinus ).

Distribution in Macaronesia. Madeira, Canary Islands ( Brito et al. 2002; Brito Hernández & Sancho Rafel 2003) and Cape Verde ( Reiner 1996, 2005; Wirtz et al. 2013; Hanel & John 2014).

Remarks. Lowe (1843–60) gives a detailed description of this species leaving no doubt that he is referring to A. bovinus and not M. aquila . Günther (1870) refers at least three specimens from Madeira, two of them sent by R. T. Lowe. Although there are no specimens in the MMF collections, this record was confirmed by underwater photos ( Wirtz et al. 2008 and the authors).