Mobula kuhlii (Müller & Henle, 1841 )

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 : 101

Mobula kuhlii (Müller & Henle, 1841)

Shortfin Devil Ray

Cephaloptera kuhlii Valenciennes in M̹ller & Henle, 1841: 185 , pl. 59 (left). Lectotype: MNHN 0000-1596. Type locality: India.

Local synonymy: Mobula kuhlii: Barnard, 1925: 86 , fig. 2, pl. 5; Barnard, 1959: 28, fig. 8, pl. 4; Compagno et al., 1989: 116, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 118; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 148; Weigmann, 2016: 982; White & Last, 2016c: 745, fig. 33.4; Stevens et al., 2018: 86, figs. Mobula diabolus: Smith, 1943: 75 ; Smith, 1949a: 72, fig. 87; Compagno, 1986: 135, fig. 29.2.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 4361, SAIAB 7883, SAIAB 7884, SAIAB 12821, SAIAB 13337, SAIAB 44353, SAIAB 75577, SAIAB 75578, SAIAB 75579, SAIAB 207689.

South African distribution: Port Alfred (EC) to northern KZN.

Remarks: The specific identification in Barnard (1925) was provisional based only on the color of a specimen cast and the fact that M. kuhlii had previously been recorded in Zanzibar. The proportions of the cephalic lobes in the drawing ( Barnard, 1925: pl. 5) are suggestive of M. kuhlii (see Notarbartolo di Sciara et al., 2020, fig. 3). See Remarks under M. eregoodoo for relationship with that species.

Conservation status: EN (2020).