Lesser Guitarfish

Fascinating facts about the Lesser Guitarfish

• At just under one and a half metres long, the lesser guitarfish can stretch to 141 cm – about the length of a compact car’s wheelbase – yet it still slips unnoticed over sandy sea floors.
• Its triangular snout features almost glass-like patches on each side, letting light filter through and giving the fish a subtle, ghost-like silhouette that blends with the pale-cream and dark-ringed pattern on its back.
• Unlike many sharks that keep their fins forward, the lesser guitarfish’s dorsal fins sit far back near the tail.
• Living on sandy plains from Angola down to South Africa and possibly Mozambique, this bottom-dwelling shark is now listed as vulnerable, and loss of its shallow-sea and estuarine habitats threatens the species.

At a glance

About the Lesser Guitarfish

The lesser guitarfish, Acroteriobatus annulatus, is a member of the Rhinobatidae family, reaching lengths of up to 141 cm. Its body has a pale-cream dorsal surface with dark rings surrounding darker spots, and a white ventral side. It has a flat, triangular snout with nearly translucent patches on either side, and its dorsal fins are set well back on the tail. This sand-shark lives on sandy plains in shallow seas and estuarine waters off Angola, Namibia, South Africa, and possibly Mozambique.

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