Hemitrygon longicauda (Last & White, 2013)

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 53-54

Hemitrygon longicauda (Last & White, 2013)

Merauke Stingray

Dasyatis longicauda Last & White, 2013: 3 , Figs 1 –6. Holotype: MZB 21462. Type locality: Merauke , West Papua, Indonesia.

Local synonymy: Dasyatis fluviorum— Kailola, 1987: 28 (Port Romilly; Yule Island; Bootless Bay; Orangerie Bay; south of Ramu River mouth). Dasyatis longicauda —Last et al., 2016a: 557 (southern New Guinea). Hemitrygon longicauda— White et al., 2018: 226, figs ( PNG).

PNG voucher material: (15 spec.) CSIRO H 7798-01, female 140 mm DW, CSIRO H 7798-02, juvenile male 160 mm DW, CSIRO H 7798-03, juvenile male 140 mm DW, west of Oriomo River, Western Province, 9°4’26.04” S, 143°8’31.9” E, <1 m depth, 25 Oct. 2014; CSIRO H 8020-01, female 250 mm DW, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°34’22” S, 144°4’31” E, 9 m depth, 1 Apr. 2015; CSIRO H 8022-01, female 220 mm DW, CSIRO H 8022-02, female 290 mm DW, CSIRO H 8022-03, female 310 mm DW, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°13’6” S, 144°7’24” E, 7–10 m depth, 2 Apr. 2015; CSIRO H 8024-01, female 240 mm DW, southwest of Deception Bay, Gulf of Papua, 8°6’39” S, 144°25’45” E, 12–15 m depth, 3 Apr. 2015; KFRS E.645, juvenile male 120 mm DW, east of Fly River mouth, Gulf of Papua, 8°13’6” S, 144°7’24” E, 7–10 m depth, 2 Apr. 2015; KFRS E.685, female 140 mm DW, KFRS E.686, female 140 mm DW, KFRS E.687, female 160 mm DW, KFRS E.688, female 140 mm DW, west of Oriomo River, Western Province, 9°4’26.04” S, 143°8’31.9” E, <1 m depth, 25 Oct. 2014; KFRS E.798, female 258 mm DW, KFRS E.799, juvenile male 137 mm DW, no collection data [no label but probably previously registered specimens collected in the 1960s or 1970s].

Remarks: First recorded in PNG by Kailola (1987), but specimens in the KFRS collection identified as Dasyatis fluviorum , now lost, which are most likely this species were collected in the mid-1960s. Common in very shallow waters in the Western, Gulf and Central Provinces. Previously placed in the genus Dasyatis .

Figures

FIGURE 1. The current location of the KFRS collection in the biological sciences area of the University of PNG.