Aetobatus ocellatus (Kuhl, 1823)

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 65

Aetobatus ocellatus (Kuhl, 1823)

Spotted Eagle Ray

Myliobatus ocellatus Kuhl in van Hasselt, 1823: 316 . No original types designated; Neotype: MZB 18225; neotype designation by White et al. (2010). Type locality: Java, Indonesia .

Local synonymy: Myliobatis punctatus Miklouho-Maclay & Macleay, 1886: 675 , pl. 46 (figs 1-6) (Hermit Islands; Admiralty Islands). Aetobatus punctatus— Munro, 1958: 114 (Haidana Island; Waterfall Bay, New Britain). Aetobatus ocellatus— Munro, 1967: 16, pl. 2, fig. 21 (New Guinea); White et al., 2018: 280, figs (PNG). Aetobatus narinari— Filewood, 1973: 14 (PNG); Haines, 1979a: 6 (Purari Delta); Allen et al., 2003: 112 (Milne Bay); Hamilton et al., 2009: 73 (northern Bismarck Archipelago); Drew et al., 2012: 5 (Bootless Bay). Aetobatis narinari— Gochfeld, 1996: 43 (southern New Ireland).

PNG voucher material: (3 spec.) FMNH 120552, female ~ 350 mm DW, boat jetty at Tahira, Bootless Bay , Port Moresby, 9°30’26” S, 147°17’12” E , 18 Jan. 2011; KFRS E.684, male 880 mm DW, Daru fish market, Daru , Western Province, 23 Oct. 2014 ; NMV A 15817 (stuffed), 545 mm DW, no collection data.

Remarks: First recorded from PNG by Miklouho-Maclay & Macleay (1886) who described it as a new species, Myliobatis punctatus , from the Hermit and Admiralty Islands. Previously considered synonymise with Aetobatus narinari ( Euphrasen, 1790) but the latter species restricted to the Atlantic Ocean. Previously placed in the family Myliobatidae .