Gymnura poecilura (Shaw, 1804)

Open encyclopedia reference

The longtail butterfly ray (Gymnura poecilura) is a species of butterfly ray, family Gymnuridae, native to the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea to southern Japan and western Indonesia. Growing up to 92 cm (36 in) across, this ray has a lozenge-shaped pectoral fin disc about twice as wide as long, colored brown to gray above with many small, light spots. The spiracles behind its eyes have smooth rims. This species can be identified by its tail, which is about as long as the snout-to-vent distance, lacks fins, and bears nine to twelve each of alternating black and white bands. Bottom-dwelling in nature, the longtail butterfly ray frequents sandy or muddy habitats in coastal waters shallower than 30 m (98 ft). Its diet consists of bony fishes, molluscs, and crustaceans. This species gives birth to live young; the developing embryos are nourished first by yolk and later by histotroph ("uterine milk") supplied by its mother. There is no defined breeding season, and females bear litters of up to seven pups.

Wikipedia contributors, Longtail 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 poecilura (Shaw, 1804)

Name authority

(Shaw, 1804)

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassBatoidea
10. orderMyliobatiformes
11. familyGymnuridae Fowler, 1934
12. genusGymnura van Hasselt, 1823
13. speciesGymnura poecilura (Shaw, 1804)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Gymnura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 15 records assigned to Gymnuridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215611 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:3HVQ8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.