Rostral anomaly in a juvenile Spiny Butterfly Ray Gymnura altavela (Linnaeus, 1758) (Elasmobranchii: Myliobatiformes: Gymnuridae) from the Canary Islands

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Filip Osaer
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6461-5552
Krupskaya Narváez
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2117-3122

Abstract

The present communication documents the first observation of a morphologic anomaly in a juvenile Spiny Butterfly Ray Gymnura altavela. This observation is remarkable for its similarity with a rostral abnormality in an adult G. altavela from the Canary Islands 10 years earlier and with the one from a juvenile Long-tailed Butterfly Ray G. poecilura from the Western Indo-Pacific. We could not find evidence that these instances present priority conservation concerns at present. However, long-term studies are required to monitor dynamic changes in such occurrences, evaluating their potential impact on the population.

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References

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