Author: (Ayres, 1854)
FBname: Shovelnose guitarfish
Comments: Found on sand or mud bottoms of bays, seagrass beds, estuaries, and near rocky reefs.  Nomadic and gregarious.  Found singly or in aggregations (Ref. 12951).  Burrows in sand during the day, feeds on crabs, worms, clams and small fishes at night (Ref. 12951).  Ovoviviparous, with 6 to 28 pups in a litter (Ref. 48844). Females mature by 7 years at 87-99 cm TL; males reaches 91-110 cm TL; birth size at 20-24 cm TL (Ref. 114953).
  Etymology: The genus comes from the Greek word <i>rhine</i>, meaning shark, and the Latin word <i>batis</i>, meaning ray, in reference to its body form being intermediate between that of a shark and a ray.  The species name comes Latin, meaning produced, in reference to its pointed snout (Ref. 48844).