Rhinobatos holcorhynchus Norman, 1922

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 77

Rhinobatos holcorhynchus Norman, 1922

Slender Guitarfish

Rhinobatus holcorhynchus Norman, 1922: 318 . Holotype (unique): BMNH 1922.1 .13.18. Type locality: Zululand , KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Local synonymy: Rhinobatus holcorhynchus : von Bonde & Swart, 1923: 3; Barnard, 1925: 61, fig. 9c, pl. 3; Norman, 1926: 957, fig. 10; Barnard, 1927: 1014; Fowler, 1941: 307; Barnard, 1959: 22; Wallace, 1967b: 18, figs. 9, 11. Rhinobatus natalensis: Fowler, 1925b: 195 , fig. 1. Rhinobatus schlegeli: Smith, 1949a: 64 , fig. 64; Smith, 1961a: 64, fig. 64; Smith, 1965: 64, fig. 64. Rhinobatos holcorhynchus: Compagno, 1986: 130 , fig. 27.4; Compagno et al., 1989: 78, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 116; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 78; NPOA, 2013: 57; da Silva et al., 2015: 247; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 146; Last et al., 2016b: 470; Séret et al., 2016a: 98, fig. 10.20 (in part, illustration is of R. austini ); Weigmann, 2016: 922.

South Africa voucher material: Holotype: BMNH 1922.1 .13.18, ANSP 53041 (holotype of Rhinobatos natalensis ). Non-types: SAIAB 11144 , SAIAB 11145 , SAIAB 11146 , SAM 033512 , SAM 033999 , SAM 034815 .

South African distribution: East coast from Port Shepstone to KZN border with Mozambique.

Remarks: The geographic range of R. holcorhynchus in East Africa, Madagascar, and the Mascarene Archipelago should be revisited given the misidentification with other regional Rhinobatos species, including R. austini and R. nudidorsalis . The scientific name Rhinobatos schlegelii appears in some earlier South African literature accounts since Smith (1949a, 1961 a, 1965) considered R. holcorhychus to be a junior synonym of it. However, most recent accounts do not recognize it as occurring in southern Africa, and consider its distribution to be restricted to the western North Pacific ( Last et al., 2016b: 470; Séret et al., 2016a: 98, fig. 10.20).

Conservation status: DD (2019).