Plesiobatis daviesi ( Wallace, 1967c )

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 90

Plesiobatis daviesi ( Wallace, 1967c)

Deep-sea Stingray

Urotrygon daviesi Wallace, 1967c: 8 , figs 3–4. Holotype: SAIAB 7861 [ex. ORI B865 ], Mozambique Channel , off Limpopo River estuary, Mozambique, 25°25'S, 33°35'E.

Local synonymy: Urotrygon daviesi: Wallace, 1967c: 8 , figs 3–4; Compagno et al., 1989: 100, pl. Plesiobatis daviesi: Compagno, 1999: 117 ; Ebert et al., 2002: 356; Ebert, 2014: 83, fig. 132; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 147; Séret & Last, 2016: 675, fig. 28.1; Weigmann, 2016: 989.

South Africa voucher material: Ebert et al. (2002) reported on two specimens caught off northern KZN, but both were discarded. We are unaware of any South African specimens in museum collections.

South African distribution: Northern KZN.

Remarks: This species was long thought to be rare and known only from the type series off the Limpopo River estuary, but it has since been found to be quite common at depth throughout the Indo-West Pacific region from northern KZN, South Africa to Japan and northern Australia.

Conservation status: LC (2015).