GYMNURIDAE (BUTTERFLY RAYS)

Henderson, Aaron C., Reeve, Alan J., Jabado, Rima W. & Naylor, Gavin J. P., 2016, Taxonomic assessment of sharks, rays and guitarfishes (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) from south-eastern Arabia, using the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (NADH 2) gene, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176 (2), pp. 399-442 : 429

GYMNURIDAE (BUTTERFLY RAYS)

One species, Gymnura poecilura , was assessed. Naylor et al. (2012) noted two sub-clusters in their G. poecilura specimens, which were designated G. cf. poecilura 1 ( Indonesia /Malaysian specimens) and G. cf. poecilura 2 (Iranian specimens). The current specimens clustered with the latter but added distinct substructure to the cluster. Furthermore, there was strong branch support for three clusters within the current specimens, each containing a mix of specimens from both Oman and the UAE (i.e. there was no geographical separation of the clusters). Cluster A was the most distinct of the three, exhibiting mean distances of 2.79 ± 0.54 and 3.15 ± 0.58% with clusters B and C, respectively. Clusters B and C exhibited a mean distance of 1.58 ± 0.40% with each other.

1, Himantura fai; 2, Himantura cf. gerrardi 3; 3, Himantura randalli ; 4, Himantura imbricata ; 5, Himantura cf. uarnak 3; 6, Himantura cf. leoparda ; 7, Neotrygon kuhlii ; 8, Pastinachus atrus ; 9, Dasyatis cf. ushiei ; 10, Himantura sp. ; 11, Urogymnus asperrimus .