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Butterfly ray

Butterfly rays
Gymnura micrura .jpg
Smooth butterfly ray (G. micrura)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Gymnuridae
Fowler, 1934
Genus: Gymnura
van Hasselt, 1823
Type species
Gymnura micrura
Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Synonyms
  • Aetoplatea Valenciennes in Müller & Henle, 1841
  • Phanerocephalus Gratzianov, 1906
  • Pteroplatea Müller & Henle, 1837

The butterfly rays are the rays forming the genus Gymnura and the family Gymnuridae. They are found in warm oceans worldwide, and occasionally in estuaries.

The body of butterfly rays is flattened and surrounded by an extremely broad disc formed by the pectoral fins, which merge in front of the head. They have a very short, thread-like, tail. They range from 31 cm (12 in) to 4 m (13 ft) in width.

McEachran et al. place the butterfly rays in the subfamily Gymnurinae of the family Dasyatidae, but this article follows FishBase and ITIS in treating them as a family.

There are currently 14 species in this genus:


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