Order RHINOPRISTIFORMES

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Introduction

Most family level groups in this order previously comprised the Rhinobatiformes which included three families after Compagno (1999) - Rhinidae, Rhynchobatidae and Rhinobatidae. However more recent phylogenetic analysis which is followed here (e.g. Aschilman 2012, Naylor et al. 2012, 2016, Last et al. 2016) has shown the Pristidae to be deeply nested within these families, leading to its inclusion by Naylor et al. (2012) and the proposal of the name Rhinopristiformes. Additionally, these studies have also presented strong evidence for the placement of Rhynchobatus, the sole member of Rhynchobatidae, in the Rhinidae as proposed by some earlier works, and the recognition of the rhinobatid genera Glaucostegus and Trygonorrhina at the family level. Nelson (2006) provides a discussion of various earlier classifications.

As treated here the group includes five families after Naylor et al. (2016) and Last et al. (2016). Naylor et al. (2016) also recognise Platyrhinidae and Zanobatidae as distinct families however both were resolved outside the four monophyletic Orders they proposed. Zanobatidae was placed as sister group to Myliobatiformes (see also Aschliman et al. 2012) while Platyrhinidae as the sister group to Torpediniformes, acknowledged as a radical departure from previous morphological studies. Neither of these families are recorded from Australia.

General References

Aschilman, N.C., Claeson, K.M. & McEachran. J.D. 2012. Phylogeny of Batoidea. pp. 57-96 in Carrier, J.C., Musick, J.A. & Heithaus, M.R. (eds.). Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives. Boca Raton, Florida : CRC Press 2, 666 pp.

Compagno, L.J.V. 1999. Checklist of living elasmobranchs. In, Hamlett, W.C. (ed.). Sharks, Skates, and Rays: the Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. Baltimore & London : John Hopkins University Press 515 pp.

Last, P.R., Séret, B. and Naylor, G.J.P. 2016. A new species of guitarfish, Rhinobatos borneensis sp. nov. with a redefinition of the family-level classification in the order Rhinopristiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea). Zootaxa 4117(4): 451-475

Naylor, G.J.P., Caira, J.N., Jensen, K., Rosana, K.A.M., Straube, N. & Lakner, C. 2012. Elasmobranch phylogeny: a mitochondrial estimate based on 595 species. pp. 31-56 in Carrier, J.C., Musick, J.A. & Heithaus, M.R. (eds.). Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives. Boca Raton, Florida : CRC Press 2, 666 pp.

Naylor, G.J.P., Yang, L., Corrigan, S. & Carvalho, M.R. de 2016. Phylogeny and classification of rays. pp. 10-15 in Last, P.R., White, W.T., Carvalho, M.R. de, Séret, B., Stehmann, M.F.W. & Naylor, G.J.P. (eds.). Rays of the World. Clayton South, Victoria : CSIRO Publishing 790 pp.

Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 601 pp.

History of changes