Batomorphi

{{See also|Batoid locomotion}}

Batomorphs are flat-bodied, and, like sharks, are cartilaginous fish, meaning they have a boneless skeleton made of a tough, elastic cartilage. Most batomorphs have five ventral slot-like body openings called gill slits that lead from the gills, but the Hexatrygonidae have six.{{cite web |first=R. Aidan |last=Martin |publisher=ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research |url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/shark_profiles/batoids.htm |date=February 2010 |website=Elasmo research |title=Batoids: Sawfishes, Guitarfishes, Electric Rays, Skates, and Sting Rays}}

Batomorph gill slits lie under the pectoral fins on the underside, whereas a shark's are on the sides of the head. Most batomorphs have a flat, mantle-like body, with the exception of the guitarfishes and sawfishes, while most sharks have a spindle-shaped body. Many species of batomorph have developed their pectoral fins into broad flat wing-like appendages. The anal fin is absent. The eyes and spiracles are located on top of the head. batomorphs have a ventrally located mouth and can considerably protrude their upper jaw (palatoquadrate cartilage) away from the cranium to capture prey.{{cite journal |last1=Motta |first1=P.J. |last2=Wilga |first2=C.D. |year=2001 |title=Advances in the study of feeding behaviors, mechanisms, and mechanics of sharks |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |volume=60 |issue=1–3 |pages=131–56 |doi=10.1023/A:1007649900712|s2cid=28305317 }} The jaws have euhyostylic type suspension, which relies completely on the hyomandibular cartilages for support.{{cite journal |last=Wilga |first=C.A.D. |year=2008 |title=Evolutionary divergence in the feeding mechanism of fishes |journal=Acta Geologica Polonica |volume=58 |pages=113–20}} Bottom-dwelling batomorphs breathe by taking water in through the spiracles, rather than through the mouth as most fish do, and passing it outward through the gills.

Batomorphs reproduce in a number of ways. As is characteristic of elasmobranchs, batomorphs undergo internal fertilization. Internal fertilization is advantageous to batomorphs as it conserves sperm, does not expose eggs to consumption by predators, and ensures that all the energy involved in reproduction is retained and not lost to the environment.{{cite web |url=http://www.marinebiodiversity.ca/skatesandrays/Reproduction%20Overall.htm |title=Reproduction overall |series=Skates and rays of Atlantic Canada |work=Canadian Shark Research Lab |department=Risk Section, Bedford Institute of Oceanography & Marine Fish Species |publisher=Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Center |access-date=27 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116083957/http://www.marinebiodiversity.ca/skatesandrays/Reproduction%20Overall.htm |archive-date=2015-01-16 |df=dmy-all }} All skates and some rays are oviparous (egg laying) while other rays are ovoviviparous, meaning that they give birth to young which develop in a womb but without involvement of a placenta.{{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Kye R. |last2=Fetterplace |first2=Lachlan C. |last3=Davis |first3=Andrew R. |last4=Taylor |first4=Matthew D. |last5=Knott |first5=Nathan A. |title=Sharks, rays and abortion: The prevalence of capture-induced parturition in elasmobranchs |journal=Biological Conservation |date=January 2018 |volume=217 |pages=11–27 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.010 |s2cid=90834034 |url=http://marxiv.org/k2qvy/ |access-date=2018-12-09 |archive-date=2019-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223020619/https://marxiv.org/k2qvy/ }}

The eggs of oviparous skates are laid in leathery egg cases that are commonly known as mermaid's purses and which often wash up empty on beaches in areas where skates are common.

Capture-induced premature birth and abortion (collectively called capture-induced parturition) occurs frequently in sharks and rays when fished. Capture-induced parturition is rarely considered in fisheries management despite being shown to occur in at least 12% of live bearing sharks and rays (88 species to date).

Most species live on the sea floor, in a variety of geographical regions – mainly in coastal waters, although some live in deep waters to at least {{convert|3000|m|ft}}. Most batomorphs have a cosmopolitan distribution, preferring tropical and subtropical marine environments, although there are temperate and cold-water species. Only a few species, like manta rays, live in the open sea, and only a few live in freshwater, while some batomorphs can live in brackish bays and estuaries.

Most batomorphs have developed heavy, rounded teeth for crushing the shells of bottom-dwelling species such as snails, clams, oysters, crustaceans, and some fish, depending on the species. Manta rays feed on plankton.

Batomorphs belong to the ancient lineage of cartilaginous fishes. Fossil denticles (tooth-like scales in the skin) resembling those of today's chondrichthyans date at least as far back as the Ordovician, with the oldest unambiguous fossils of cartilaginous fish dating from the middle Devonian. A clade within this diverse family, the Neoselachii, emerged by the Triassic, with the best-understood neoselachian fossils dating from the Jurassic. The oldest confirmed ray is Antiquaobatis, from the Pliensbachian of Germany.{{cite journal |author1=Stumpf, Sebastian |author2=Kriwet, Jürgen |year=2019 |title=A new Pliensbachian elasmobranch (Vertebrata, Chondrichthyes) assemblage from Europe, and its contribution to the understanding of late Early Jurassic elasmobranch diversity and distributional patterns |journal=PalZ |volume=93 |issue=4 |pages=637–658 |doi=10.1007/s12542-019-00451-4 |doi-access=free}} The clade is represented today by sharks, sawfish, rays and skates.{{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrates/basalfish/chondrofr.html |department=University of California Museum of Paleontology |publisher=U.C. Berkeley |title=Chondrichthyes: Fossil Record}}

Molecular evidence refutes the hypothesis that skates and rays are derived sharks.{{cite journal |last1=Douady |first1=C.J. |last2=Dosay |first2=M. |last3=Shivji |first3=M.S. |last4=Stanhope |first4=M.J. |year=2003 |title=Molecular phylogenetic evidence refuting the hypothesis of Batoidea (rays and skates) as derived sharks |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=26 |pages=215–221 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00333-0 |pmid=12565032 |issue=2}} The monophyly of the skates, the stingrays, and the electric rays has long been generally accepted. Along with Rhinopristiformes, these comprise the four traditionally accepted major batomorph lineages, as in Nelson's 2006 Fishes of the World. However, the exact phylogeny of the major batomorph lineages, internally and with respect to one another, has been subject to diverse treatments. The following cladogram is based on a comprehensive morphological assessment of batomorph phylogeny published in 2004:{{cite book |first1=J.D. |last1=McEachran |last2=Aschliman |first2=N. |contribution=Phylogeny of batoidea |editor1-last=Carrier |editor1-first=J.C. |editor2-last=Musick |editor2-first=J.A. |editor3-last=Heithaus |editor3-first=M.R. |title=Biology of sharks and their relatives |location=Boca Raton, Florida |publisher=CRC Press |year=2004 |pages=79–114}}

{{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:80%

|label1=Chondrichthyes

|1={{clade

|label2=Elasmobranchii

|1=Holocephali (incl. Chimaera) 70px

|2={{clade

|1=Selachimorpha (Sharks) 100px

|label2=Batoidea

|2={{clade

|1=Torpediniformes 65px

|2={{clade

|1=Rhinopristiformes 110px

|2={{clade

|1=Rajiformes 65px

|2=Myliobatiformes 60px

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

{{clear}}

However, a 2011 study significantly reevaluated the phylogeny of batomorphs, using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from 37 taxa, representing almost all recognized families and all of the traditional four major lineages. This is a far more numerous and diverse set of sample taxa than in any previous study, producing findings reflected in the cladogram below.

{{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:80%

|label1=Chondrichthyes

|1={{clade

|label2=Elasmobranchii

|1=Holocephali (incl. Chimaera) 70px

|2={{clade

|1=Selachimorpha (Sharks) 100px

|label2=Batoidea

|2={{clade

|1=Rajiformes (Skates) 65px

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Platyrhinidae (Thornbacks)

|2=Torpediniformes (Electric rays) 65px

}}

|2={{clade

|1="Guitarfishes 1" (Trygonorrhinidae) 85px

|2={{clade

|1="Guitarfishes 2" (incl. Pristidae (Sawfishes)) 110px

|2={{clade

|1=Zanobatidae (Panrays)

|2=Myliobatoidei (Stingrays) 60px

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

{{clear}}

This study strongly confirmed the traditionally accepted internal monophyly of skates, stingrays, and electric rays. It also recovered panrays as sister to the stingrays, as older morphological analyses had suggested. However, it found the Rhinopristiformes, including the sawfishes and various "guitarfishes", to be paraphyletic, comprising two distinct clades. Referred to as "Guitarfishes 1" and "Guitarfishes 2", the former contains only the Trygonorrhinidae, while the latter contains the remainder of Rhinopristiformes (the families Glaucostegidae, Pristidae, Rhinidae, and Rhinobatidae). In addition, while traditional phylogenies often find electric rays to be the basalmost batomorphs, followed by the Rhinopristiformes, this analysis finds a polytomy between skates, electric rays, and thornbacks at the base of Batomorpha, with weak support for skates being the actual most basal lineage, followed by a clade uniting the electric rays and thornbacks.

The Mesozoic Sclerorhynchoidea are basal or incertae sedis; they show features of the Rajiformes but have snouts resembling those of sawfishes. However, evidence indicates they are probably the sister group to sawfishes.{{cite web |url=http://www.verlag-pfeil.de/07pala/pdf/3_53d03.pdf |title=The systematic position of the Cretaceous sclerorhynchid sawfishes (Elasmobranchii, Pristiorajea) |last=Kriwet |first=Jürgen |access-date=2016-04-04 |archive-date=2016-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416053715/http://www.verlag-pfeil.de/07pala/pdf/3_53d03.pdf }}

File:Heliobatis radians Green River Formation (cropped).jpg fossil stingray Heliobatis radians]]

File:Atlantic mobula lisbon.jpg, Mobula mobular]]

Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes classigies the rays as follows:{{cite web|url=https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/catalog-of-fishes-classification|title=Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification|access-date=29 October 2024|publisher=California Academy of Sciences}}

• Order Torpediniformes
• Family Platyrhinidae D. S. Jordan, 1923 (thornbacks or fanrays)
• Family Narkidae Fowler, 1934 (sleeper rays)
• Family Narcinidae, Gill, 1862 (electric rays)
• Family Hypnidae Gill, 1862 (coffin rays)
• Family Torpedinidae Henle 1834 (torpedo electric rays or torpedo rays)
• Order Rhinopristiformes
• Family Trygonorrhinidae Last, Séret & Naylor, 2016 (fiddler rays or banjo rays)
• Family Rhinobatidae Bonaparte, 1835 (guitarfishes)
• Family Rhinidae J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841 (bowmouth guitarfishes or wedgefishes)
• Family Glaucostegidae Last, Séret & Naylor, 2016 (giant guitarfishes)
• Family Pristidae Bonaparte, 1835 (sawfishes)
• Order Rajiformes
• Family Rajidae Blainville, 1816 (hardnose skates)
• Family Arhynchobatidae Fowler, 1934 (softnose skates or longtail skates)
• Family Gurgesiellidae de Buen, 1959 (pygmy skates)
• Family Anacanthobatidae von Bonde & Swart, 1923 (legskates or smooth skates)
• Order Myliobatiformes
• Family Zanobatidae Fowler. 1934 (panrays)
• Family Hexatrygonidae Heemstra & M. M. Smith, 1980 (sixgill stingrays)
• Family Dasyatidae D. S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879 (whiptail stingrays)
• Subfamily Dasyatinae D. S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879 (stingrays)
• Subfamily Neotrygoninae Castelnau, 1873 (shortsnout stingrays)
• Subfamily Urogymninae Gray, 1851 (whiprays)
• Subfamily Hypolophinae Stromer, 1910 (cowtail stingrays)
• Family Potamotrygonidae Garman, 1877 (neotropical stingrays)
• Subfamily Styracurinae Carvalho, Loboda & da Silva 2016 (whiptail stingrays)
• Subfamily Potamotrygoninae Garman 1877 (river stingrays)
• Family Urotrygonidae McEachran, Dunn & Miyake, 1996 (American round stingrays)
• Family Gymnuridae Fowler, 1934 (butterfly rays)
• Family Plesiobatidae K. Nishida, 1990 (deepwater stingrays or giant stingarees)
• Family Urolophidae J. P. Müller & Henle 1841 (round stingrays or stingarees)
• Family Aetobatidae Agassiz, 1858 (pelagic eagle rays)
• Family Myliobatidae Bonaparte, 1835 (eagle rays)
• Family Rhinopteridae D. S, Jordan & Evermann, 1896 (cownose rays)
• Family Mobulidae Gill, 1893 (mantas or devil rays)

{{anchor|Anchor:Shark/Ray}}

{{see also|List of threatened rays}}

According to a 2021 study in Nature, the number of oceanic sharks and rays has declined globally by 71% over the preceding 50 years, jeopardising "the health of entire ocean ecosystems as well as food security for some of the world's poorest countries". Overfishing has increased the global extinction risk of these species to the point where three-quarters are now threatened with extinction.{{cite journal |doi = 10.1038/s41586-020-03173-9|title = Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays|year = 2021|last1 = Pacoureau|first1 = Nathan|last2 = Rigby|first2 = Cassandra L.|last3 = Kyne|first3 = Peter M.|last4 = Sherley|first4 = Richard B.|last5 = Winker|first5 = Henning|last6 = Carlson|first6 = John K.|last7 = Fordham|first7 = Sonja V.|last8 = Barreto|first8 = Rodrigo|last9 = Fernando|first9 = Daniel|last10 = Francis|first10 = Malcolm P.|last11 = Jabado|first11 = Rima W.|last12 = Herman|first12 = Katelyn B.|last13 = Liu|first13 = Kwang-Ming|last14 = Marshall|first14 = Andrea D.|last15 = Pollom|first15 = Riley A.|last16 = Romanov|first16 = Evgeny V.|last17 = Simpfendorfer|first17 = Colin A.|last18 = Yin|first18 = Jamie S.|last19 = Kindsvater|first19 = Holly K.|last20 = Dulvy|first20 = Nicholas K.|journal = Nature|volume = 589|issue = 7843|pages = 567–571|pmid = 33505035| bibcode=2021Natur.589..567P |hdl = 10871/124531|s2cid = 231723355|hdl-access = free}}{{cite web | last=Briggs | first=Helen | title=Extinction: 'Time is running out' to save sharks and rays | website=BBC News | date=28 January 2021 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55830732 | access-date=29 January 2021}}{{cite web | last=Richardson | first=Holly | title=Shark, ray populations have declined by 'alarming' 70 per cent since 1970s, study finds | website=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=27 January 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-28/alarming-70pc-decline-in-shark-and-ray-numbers-study-says/13096442 | access-date=29 January 2021}} This is notably the case in the Mediterranean Sea - most impacted by unregulated fishing - where a recent international survey of the Mediterranean Science Commission concluded that only 38 species of rays and skates still subsisted.Guide of Mediterranean Skates and Rays. Oct. 2022. Mendez L., Bacquet A. and F. Briand.[https://ciesm.org/marine/programs/skatesandrays/]

All sharks and rays are cartilaginous fish, contrasting with bony fishes. Many rays are adapted for feeding on the bottom. Guitarfishes are somewhat between sharks and rays, displaying characteristics of both (though they are classified as rays).

{{Commons category|Batomorphi}}

• Rhenanida

{{notelist|1}}

{{Reflist|25em}}

• {{cite book |first1=J.D. |last1=McEachran |first2=K.A. |last2=Dunn |first3=T. |last3=Miyake |year=1996 |contribution=Interrelationships of the batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) |title=Interrelationships of Fishes |publisher=Academic Press}}
• {{cite book |author-link=Joseph S. Nelson |author=Nelson, Joseph S. |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exTV-GLnCB4C |title=Fishes of the World |edition=4th, illustrated |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-75644-6}}

• {{cite web |title=Shark references |url=http://www.shark-references.com/}} – database of bibliography of living/fossil sharks and rays (see Chondrichtyes: Selachii) with more than 15 000 listed papers and many download links.
• {{cite report |url=http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/recreational_fishing/fact_sheets/fact_sheet_rays.pdf |title=Rays fact sheet |series=Recreational fishing |department=Fisheries |publisher=Government of Western Australia |location=Perth, Australia |contribution=Rays Fact Sheet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513144655/http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/recreational_fishing/fact_sheets/fact_sheet_rays.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-13 |df=dmy-all}}

{{Chondrichthyes}}

{{Diversity of fish}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q6495741}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Extant Early Triassic first appearances

Category:Fish superorders