Himantura gerrardi (Gray, 1851)

Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Alpermann, Tilman J., Mal, Ahmad O. & Gabr, Mohamed H., 2014, Survey of demersal fishes from southern Saudi Arabia, with five new records for the Red Sea, Zootaxa 3852 (4), pp. 401-437 : 411

Himantura gerrardi (Gray, 1851)

Material examined. SMF 34957, 1 female, 1 male (2: 28.7–34.8 cm); KAUMM 48, male (1: 20.2 cm); SMF 34958, female (1: 23.9 cm); KAUMM 18, female (1: 21.0 cm); KAUMM 19, male (1: 24.2 cm).

Remarks. Gohar & Mazhar (1964) identified two specimens, male of 229 cm and female of 209 cm length, collected near Jubal Island, northern Red Sea as H. gerrardi . Both specimens had part of the tail missing, but the rest of tail was plain brown without any bands. Also both specimens had slightly enlarged denticles on the trunk, with no prominent tubercle in midside, whereas all specimens examined here are characterized in having a prominent tubercle in midside and the tail coloration consists of alternating dark and pale bands. Therefore we believe that Gohar & Mazhar’s record is based on a misidentification of H. fai Jordan & Seale, 1906. As Himantura gerrardi is a complex of similar species and currently under study by Peter Last (CSIRO), specimens trawled off Jizan, Saudi Arabia, are provisionally identified H. gerrardi , pending a revision of the complex.