Maculabatis, Haque & White & Cavanagh & Biswas & Hossain, 2021

Haque, Alifa Bintha, White, William T., Cavanagh, Rachel D., Biswas, Aparna Riti & Hossain, Nazia, 2021, New records of elasmobranchs in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: further taxonomic research is essential, Zootaxa 5027 (2), pp. 211-230 : 217

Genus Maculabatis

The new genus Maculabatis , as well as several new species, was recently assigned to a group of morphologically similar stingray species ( Last et al. 2016c; Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2016). The recently described Maculabatis bineeshi was recorded in Bangladesh for the first time in this study ( Figure 3 ), with a total of 21 specimens recorded, both morphologically ( Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2016) and genetically. M. arabica ( Figure 4 ) was genetically identified from one specimen and morphologically identified from another 18 specimens. In addition, seven specimens that were morphologically most consistent with M. macrura were examined. M. macrura has only recently been established as a valid species, and is morphologically very similar to M. gerrardi ( Last et al. 2016a) , with distinguishing characteristics poorly understood. Further genetic studies are therefore recommended to assign these specimens to the correct species.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Dorsal and ventral image of Maculabatis bineeshi from Cox’s Bazar (Male, DW= 43.18 cm).

FIGURE 4. Dorsal image of Maculabatis arabica from Cox’s Bazar (Female, DW= 48.26 cm).