Rhynchobatus

{{Short description|Genus of cartilaginous fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Lower Eocene|Recent|ref={{cite journal

|last = Sepkoski

|first = Jack

|title = A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)

|journal = Bulletins of American Paleontology

|volume = 364

|page = 560

|date = 2002

|url = http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=575&rank=class

|accessdate = 2008-01-09

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080223153717/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=575&rank=class

|archivedate = 2008-02-23

}}}}

| image = Rhynchobatus djiddensis durban.jpg

| image_caption = Giant guitarfish (R. djiddensis)

| taxon = Rhynchobatus

| authority = J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837

| type_species = Rhinobatus laevis

| type_species_authority = Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801

}}

Rhynchobatus is a group of rays commonly known as wedgefishes in the family Rhinidae. They are found in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific with a single species (R. luebberti) in the eastern Atlantic. All species in this genus are assessed as Vulnerable or Endangered by IUCN.

The species are superficially similar and have often been confused. The various species can generally be separated by a combination of snout shape, vertebral count and exact colour (distribution of white spots, and presence/absence of a black spot at the base of the pectoral fin). The largest species can reach about {{convert|3|m|ft|abbr=on|0}} and are among the largest species of Rhinopristiformes, but the smallest reach less than one-third of that size.Last, Kyne & Compagno (2016). A new species of wedgefish Rhynchobatus cooki (Rhinopristiformes, Rhinidae) from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 4139(2): 233-247. {{doi|10.11646/zootaxa.4139.2.7}}