Neotrygon sp. (cf. trigonoides Castelnau 1873), Castelnau, 1873

Andréfouët, Serge, Chen, Wei-Jen, Kinch, Jeff, Mana, Ralph, Russell, Barry C., Tully, Dean & White, William T., 2019, Checklist of the marine and estuarine fishes of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, western Pacific Ocean, with 810 new records, Zootaxa 4588 (1), pp. 1-360 : 45

Neotrygon sp. (cf. trigonoides Castelnau 1873) — New Guinean mask ray ( Fig. 8 )

Status at New Ireland. Reported from New Ireland by White et al. (2018: 245), White & Ko'ou (2018: 58) as Neotrygon cf. trigonoides ; previously misidentified from Carteret Harbour, Lambom, New Ireland as Trygon kuhlii (non Müller & Henle, 1841) by Peters (1877: 853), based on ZMB 9721. Recently resurrected by Borsa at el. (2013) from New Caledonia, and referable to N. kuhlii Clade 9 in Puckridge et al. (2011). See also Last et al. (2016b). A specimen photographed at Lissenung Island by Dietmar Amon on 4 Mar. 2008, and at 5 m depth by Dean Tully on 23 Sept. 2012; another specimen photographed at St. KVG20 (east of Enuk Island, Kavieng District) by Serge Andréfouët on 20 Aug. 2014.

Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 2, 3.—General distribution: eastern Australia, islands in the Coral Sea, New Caledonia. Found on sand bottoms associated with coral reefs, including reef flats and lagoons, 0–90 m depth. Marine.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Neotrygon sp., Lissenung Island, Kavieng District, 4 Mar. 2008 (underwater photograph: Dietmar Amon).