Gymnura natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The backwater butterfly ray, butterfly ray, diamond ray, or short-tailed ray (Gymnura natalensis) is a species of chondrichthyan fish in the family Gymnuridae (butterfly rays). It is found off the coasts of Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and may also be found off the coasts of Kenya and Tanzania as well. This species' natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, estuarine waters, and coastal saline lagoons. It is threatened by habitat loss, though it was considered common from 1940s-1960s.
Wikipedia contributors, Backwater butterfly ray; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:41:56.996825+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gymnura natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911)
- Name authority
- (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Gymnuridae
- Genus
- Gymnura
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassBatoidea
- orderMyliobatiformes
- familyGymnuridae Fowler, 1934
- genusGymnura van Hasselt, 1823
- speciesGymnura natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gymnura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Gymnura afuerae (Hildebrand, 1946) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| spiny butterfly rayGymnura altavela (Linnaeus, 1758) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| longsnout butterfly rayGymnura crebripunctata (Peters, 1869) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Japanese butterflyrayGymnura japonica (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnura lessae Yokota & Carvalho, 2017 | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| California butterfly rayGymnura marmorata (Cooper, 1864) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnura poecilura (Shaw, 1804) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnura tentaculata (Müller & Henle, 1841) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnura bimaculata (Norman, 1925) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnura crooki Fowler, 1934 | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gymnura hirundo (Lowe, 1843) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| smooth butterfly rayGymnura micrura (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) | GymnuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pteroplatea natalensis Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911 Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911 | synonym |
| Urogymnus natalensis (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911) (Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911) | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215610 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3HVQ7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.