Common Guitarfish Rhinobatos rhinobatos

Guitarfish are named after the supposedly guitar-shape of their bodies. They have a ray's front end with wings and a shark's back end with dorsal fins and tail.

The Common Guitarfish is native to sandy coasts and reefs of warmer waters of the eastern Atlantic from the Iberian Peninsula to mid Africa including the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.

It can grow up to about a metre and a half long but most are below a metre. Its topside is light brown. Like most rays, the underside is white. It gives birth to live young.

Diet is crustaceans, fish and molluscs. It is critically endangered. Threats include by-catch from boats trawling the seabed for shrimp or squid and intentional fishing for the shark fin trade. It has already been eliminated from parts of its previous range.