Northernmost record of Pateobatis fai (Dasyatidae) from southern Satsuma Peninsula, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan

Abstract

A single specimen (636.0 mm disc width) of the Pink Whipray Pateobatis fai (Jordan and Seale, 1906) (Dasyatidae) was collected off the south coast of the Satsuma Peninsula, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Although the tail had been removed after capture, the specimen was subsequently identified based on disc morphology and molecular analysis. In Japanese waters, the species has previously been recorded only from Chichi Island (Ogasawara Islands), Okinawa Island (Okinawa Islands), and Iriomote Island (Yaeyama Islands), The present specimen, described here in detail, therefore representing the first record of P. fai from the Japanese mainland, and the northernmost record for the species.