Maskray

{{Short description|Genus of cartilaginous fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Blue-spotted Stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii) (8465011759).jpg | image_caption = ''Neotrygon kuhlii'' | taxon = Neotrygon | authority = Castelnau, 1873 <ref name=Castelnau1873>{{cite journal | author = Castelnau, F. de | year = 1873 | title = Contribution to the ichthyology of Australia | journal = Proc. Zool. Acclim. Soc. Victoria | volume = 2 | pages = 37–358}}</ref> | type_species = ''Raya trigonoides'' (New Caledonian maskray) | type_species_authority = Castelnau, 1873 }}

'''''Neotrygon''''' is a genus of stingrays in the family Dasyatidae commonly known as the '''maskrays''', native to the Indo-West Pacific. They are so named because of a distinctive color pattern around their eyes, resembling a mask. The species in this genus were originally placed in the genus ''Dasyatis'' by most authors. However, recent morphological and molecular analyses have conclusively showed that they represent a distinct group and so the genus ''Neotrygon'' was resurrected for them.<ref name="Last2008" />

Aside from their mask-like color pattern, the maskrays are variable in coloration and can be plain or ornate. Their pectoral fin discs are largely smooth, with a single row of thorns along the dorsal midline. The mouth is small with two central papillae and a row of enlarged, long-cusped teeth halfway along the upper jaw on both sides. The nasal curtain, formed by the merging of the nasal flaps, is long and narrow. The tail is very short with well-developed dorsal and ventral fin folds and a filamentous tip, and is banded black and white past the stinging spine. In addition, ''Neotrygon'' species also differ from other stingrays in their buccal and skeletal morphology,<ref name="Last2008">{{Cite journal |last1=Last |first1=P.R. |last2=White |first2=W.T. |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Resurrection of the genus ''Neotrygon'' Castelnau (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) with the description of ''Neotrygon picta'' sp. nov., a new species from northern Australia. ''In'': Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J (Eds.), ''Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans'' |url=http://bionames.org/bionames-archive/issn/1833-233/22/315.pdf |journal=CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research |volume=Paper 022 |pages=315–325}}</ref><ref name=Last2016>Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Séret, B. (2016): Taxonomic status of maskrays of the ''Neotrygon kuhlii'' species complex (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) with the description of three new species from the Indo-West Pacific. ''Zootaxa, 4083 (4): 533–561.''</ref> as well as in the CO1 and NADH2 gene sequences.<ref name=Ward2008>Ward R D, Holmes B H, White W T, Last P R (2008): DNA barcoding Australasian chondrichthyans: results and potential uses in conservation. ''Marine and Freshwater Research, 59: 57-71.''</ref><ref name=Naylor2012>Naylor G J P, Caira J N, Jensen K, Rosana K A M, White W T, Last P R (2012): A DNA sequence-based approach to the identification of shark and ray species and its implications for global elasmobranch diversity and parasitology. ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 367: 1-262.''</ref>

Within the genus ''Neotrygon'', species can be diagnosed by their nucleotide sequence at the CO1, NADH2, and cytochrome b gene loci.<ref name=Naylor2012/><ref name="Borsaetal.2016">{{citation |author=Borsa, P. |title=Multiple cryptic species in the blue-spotted maskray (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae: Neotrygon spp.): An update. |journal=Comptes Rendus Biologies |volume=339 |issue=9–10 |pages=417–426 |year=2016 |doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2016.07.004 |hdl=2263/60724 |pmid=27543138 |name-list-style=amp |author2=Shen, K.-N. |author3=Arlyza, I.S. |author4=Hoareau, T.B. |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free}}[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S163106911630097X/pdfft?md5=67df9e956aa58b406094b12d7814130e&pid=1-s2.0-S163106911630097X-main.pdf]</ref><ref name=Borsaetal.2017>Borsa, P., Arlyza, I.S., Hoareau, T.B. & Shen, K.-N. (2018): Diagnostic description and geographic distribution of four new cryptic species of the blue-spotted maskray species complex (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae; Neotrygon spp.) based on DNA sequences. ''Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, doi:10.1007/s00343-018-7056-2.''</ref><ref name=Pavan-Kumaretal.2018>{{cite journal|author=Pavan-Kumar, A.|author2=Kumar, R.|author3=Pitale, P.|author4=Shen, K.-N.|author5=Borsa, P.|year=2018|title=''Neotrygon indica'' sp. nov., the Indian-Ocean blue-spotted maskray (Myliobatoidei, Dasyatidae).|journal=Comptes Rendus Biologies|volume=341|issue=2|pages=120–130|doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2018.01.004|pmid=29415869 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Alternative diagnoses have been proposed based on morphometrics <ref name=Last2016/> but these were shown to be invalid.<ref name=Borsaetal.2017/><ref name="Borsa2017"/>

==Species== There are currently 17 recognized species in the genus ''Neotrygon'': * ''Neotrygon annotata'' (Last, 1987) (Plain maskray) * ''Neotrygon australiae'' Last, W. T. White & Séret, 2016 (Australian bluespotted maskray)<ref name="Last2016"/> * ''Neotrygon bobwardi'' Borsa, Arlyza, Hoareau & Shen, 2018<ref name=Borsaetal.2017/> (Bob Ward's bluespotted maskray) * ''Neotrygon caeruleopunctata'' Last, W. T. White & Séret, 2016 (Bluespotted maskray)<ref name=Last2016/> * ''Neotrygon indica'' Pavan-Kumar, Kumar, Pitale, Shen & Borsa, 2018<ref name=Pavan-Kumaretal.2018/> (Indian Ocean maskray) * ''Neotrygon kuhlii'' (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841) (Kuhl's stingray) * ''Neotrygon leylandi'' (Last, 1987) (Painted maskray) * ''Neotrygon malaccensis'' Borsa, Arlyza, Hoareau & Shen, 2018<ref name=Borsaetal.2017/> (Malacca Strait bluespotted maskray) * ''Neotrygon moluccensis'' Borsa, Arlyza, Hoareau & Shen, 2018<ref name=Borsaetal.2017/> (Moluccan bluespotted maskray) * ''Neotrygon ningalooensis'' Last, W. T. White & Puckridge, 2010 (Ningaloo maskray) * ''Neotrygon orientalis'' Last, W. T. White & Séret, 2016 (Oriental bluespotted maskray)<ref name=Last2016/> * ''Neotrygon picta'' Last & W. T. White, 2008 (Speckled maskray) * ''Neotrygon trigonoides'' (Castelnau, 1873) (New Caledonian maskray)<ref name=Castelnau1873/><ref name="Borsa2013">Borsa, P., Arlyza, I.S., Chen, W.-J., Durand, J.-D., Meekan, M.G. & Shen, K.-N. (2013): Resurrection of New Caledonian maskray ''Neotrygon trigonoides'' (Myliobatoidei : Dasyatidae) from synonymy with ''N. kuhlii'', based on cytochrome-oxidase I gene sequences and spotting patterns. ''Comptes Rendus Biologies, 336 (4): 221-232.''[https://hal.ird.fr/ird-00847459/document]</ref> * ''Neotrygon vali'' Borsa, 2017<ref name="Borsa2017">{{citation |author=Borsa, P. |title=''Neotrygon vali'', a new species of the blue spotted maskray complex (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) |journal=Species |volume=18 |issue=60 |pages=146–153 |year=2017 |url=http://www.discoveryjournals.org/Species/current_issue/v18/n60/index.htm |access-date=2017-10-18 |archive-date=2017-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018190649/http://www.discoveryjournals.org/Species/current_issue/v18/n60/index.htm |url-status=dead }}[https://www.discoveryjournals.org/Species/current_issue/2017/A11.pdf]</ref> (Guadalcanal maskray) * ''Neotrygon varidens'' (Garman, 1885)<ref name=Garman1885>Garman, S (1885): Notes and descriptions taken from selachians in the U.S. National Museum. ''Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 8: 39-44.''</ref> (Mahogany maskray) * ''Neotrygon westpapuensis'' Borsa, Arlyza, Hoareau & Shen, 2018<ref name=Borsaetal.2017/> (West Papuan bluespotted maskray) * ''Neotrygon yakkoei'' Hata & Motomura, 2024''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hata |first1=Eishiro |last2=Motomura |first2=Hiroyuki |date=2024-08-01 |title=Neotrygon yakkoei, a new bluespotted maskray (Dasyatidae) from Japan |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10228-024-00989-7 |journal=Ichthyological Research |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=229–239 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10228-024-00989-7 |issn=1341-8998|url-access=subscription }}</ref>''

''Neotrygon trigonoides'', the type species of the genus ''Neotrygon'', occurs on the reefs and reef-associated habitats of the Coral Sea. The holotype was collected by Castelnau in New Caledonia, hence its vernacular designation as the New Caledonian maskray.<ref name=Borsa2013/> ''Neotrygon kuhlii'' (Kuhl's maskray) is known from only two specimens collected by French naturalists J.R.C. Quoy and J.P. Gaymard in Vanikoro (Santa Cruz archipelago, southwestern Pacific Ocean) in 1828, and by the watercolour of another specimen drawn by Quoy.<ref name=BorsaBearez2016/> As Kuhl's maskray superficially resembles the New Caledonian maskray, it cannot be excluded that the two species are synonymous.<ref name="BorsaBearez2016">{{citation |author=Borsa, P. |title=Notes on the origin of Müller and Henle's illustration and type material of the blue-spotted maskray ''Neotrygon kuhlii'' (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae). |journal=Cybium |volume=40 |pages=255–258 |year=2016 |name-list-style=amp |author2=Bearez, P.}}[https://hal.ird.fr/ird-01374770/document]</ref> To test this hypothesis would require the comparison of maskray specimens from Vanikoro and the Coral Sea using genetic markers. ''Neotrygon indica'' apparently has a wide distribution in the Indian Ocean, while several other species have so far been recorded from single locations: the latter category includes ''Neotrygon kuhlii'', so far known from Vanikoro Island only; ''Neotrygon westpapuensis'' from Biak Island in West Papua; and ''Neotrygon vali'' from Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon archipelago.<ref name="Borsa2017"/> ''Neotrygon bobwardi'' is distributed all along the western coast of Sumatera Island in Indonesia, from Padang to Aceh; ''Neotrygon malaccensis'' occurs in the eastern Andaman Sea and in the Malacca Strait; ''Neotrygon varidens'' occurs in the South China Sea. ''Neotrygon orientalis'' has a wide distribution spanning the western Indo-Malay archipelago and the Philippines archipelago; ''Neotrygon moluccensis'' has so far been reported from the eastern Banda Sea; ''Neotrygon caeruleopunctata'' occurs along the Indian-Ocean shores of Bali and Java Islands; ''Neotrygon australiae'' is present all along the northern coast of Australia and around Timor Island.<ref name=Borsaetal.2017/>

==References== {{Commons category|Neotrygon}} {{Reflist}}

Category:Dasyatidae Category:Neotrygon