Rhinoptera neglecta Ogilby, 1912

White, William T. & Ko’Ou, Alfred, 2018, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea, Zootaxa 4411 (1), pp. 1-82 : 67

Rhinoptera neglecta Ogilby, 1912

Australian Cownose Ray

Rhinoptera neglecta Ogilby, 1912: 32 . Holotype: whereabouts unknown. Type locality: Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.

Local synonymy: Rhinoptera javanica— Filewood, 1973: 14 (PNG); Kailola, 1987: 34 (Ramu River mouth; few other Papuan locations); Last et al., 2016d: 738 (PNG). Rhinoptera neglecta— White et al., 2018: 282, figs (PNG).

PNG voucher material: (5 spec.) CSIRO H 8006-01, female 430 mm DW, west of Avirara , Gulf of Papua, 8°19’44.2” S, 146°13’39.18” E, 10–11 m depth, 25 Aug. 2015 ; CSIRO H 8012-01, juvenile male 500 mm DW, west of Avirara , Gulf of Papua, 8°20’38.6” S, 146°12’46.38” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.620, juvenile male 510 mm DW, west of Avirara , Gulf of Papua, 8°18’39” S, 146°11’27” E, 12–14 m depth, 27 Aug. 2015 ; KFRS E.637, female 370 mm DW, KFRS E.638, juvenile male 510 mm DW, west of Avirara , Gulf of Papua, 8°19’44.2” S, 146°13’39.18” E, 10–11 m depth, 25 Aug. 2015 .

Remarks: First recorded in PNG by Filewood (1973). Verified specimens collected during recent surveys of the bycatch of the Gulf of Papua prawn trawl fishery. Common in the coastal fisheries catches in some areas, e.g. Wewak; north coast specimens needed to confirm that they are the same species.