Halavi Guitarfish

The Halavi Guitarfish (Glaucostegus halavi), belonging to the Glaucostegidae family, is a species of ray native to the Indo-West Pacific, spanning from the 🌊 Red Sea to the 🌊 Gulf of Oman. There are unconfirmed occurrences east of 🇴🇲 Oman, with documented appearances in the Levantine waters in 1997 and 2004, leaving its potential establishment in the Mediterranean Sea uncertain. Its nomenclature, "halavi," is derived from the Arabic word حلاوي (halawi).

Morphologically, the Halavi Guitarfish is characterized by a large size and distinctive features, such as a wide, short, and pointed snout with a rounded tip. The rostral ridges are conjoined along most of the snout length, and the rostral cartilage exhibits a sharply defined posterior margin. It has small eyes with a snout length measuring 6.3–7.8 times the orbit length. The spiracles are distinguished by two short, widely spaced skin folds, and the nasal flaps extend marginally beyond the nostril opening. The disc's anterior margins are straight or slightly convex, with broadly rounded pectoral apices. The skin, covered in small denticles, has a rough texture along the rostral ridge, between the eyes, on the shoulders, and along the centerline. Notably, small thorns are located around the eyes, with a single larger thorn on each shoulder and a continuous row along the medial ridge from nape to tail.

The tail is robust and slightly exceeds the disc length. The dorsal fins are large, well-separated, with narrowly rounded apices, while the caudal fin is triangular and lacks a defined lower caudal lobe. The dorsal coloration ranges from yellowish to greyish-brown, unmarked, with pale rostral cartilage, while the ventral side is white.

The species reaches a maximum length of 171 cm, with newborns measuring approximately 29 cm. It inhabits tropical seas, favoring benthic sandy substrates and seagrass environments, from very shallow waters to depths of at least 100 meters, particularly in the Northwestern 🌊 Indian Ocean, from 🇰🇪 Kenya to 🇮🇳 India, including the Arabian Sea and 🌊 Red Sea.

In terms of reproduction, the Halavi Guitarfish is aplacental viviparous, with a litter size of approximately 10. Its diet primarily consists of benthic invertebrates. Behavioral observations note that it ventures into very shallow waters for feeding, with its reproductive season in the 🌊 Red Sea occurring from May to October. Generally, it is skittish in the presence of divers.

From a diving perspective, the Halavi Guitarfish is encountered with relative frequency by divers and snorkelers in the 🌊 Red Sea, notably at Gorgonia Beach off Marsa Alam, 🇪🇬 Egypt.

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

The Halavi Guitarfish occupies a limited range within a region subjected to intensive fishing practices in the 🌊 Indian Ocean and Gulf of Arabia. It is both a retained component of bycatch and a directly targeted species, leading to significant population declines. In particular, reports from the 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates indicate an 80% reduction in population over the last 30 years.