Diving with Guitar Sharks at Christmas Point - Similan Islands

Diving with Guitarfish at Christmas Point

In March this year we saw Guitar Sharks while diving at Christmas Point, which is a dive site at the Similan islands in Thailand. Michael made a video during this dive, which can be seen here: https://youtu.be/RLe2LqKKlkw

About the Guitarfish

The guitarfish are a family, Rhinobatidae, of rays. The guitarfish are known for an elongated body with a flattened head and trunk and small ray like wings. The combined range of the various species is tropical, subtropical and temperate waters worldwide.  

Wikipedia describes that these animals travel often in large groups: in the Andaman Sea we always see them being solo or with a baby. It is very rare to see a Guitarfish in the Andaman Sea while diving.

Guitarfish  - photo taken by Jot Powers, 7/2005

Guitarfish have a body form intermediate between those of sharks and rays. The tail has a typical shark-like form, but in many species, the head has a triangular, or guitar-like shape, rather than the disc-shape formed by fusion with the pectoral fins found in other rays.

Reproduction

Guitarfish are ovoviviparous, which means the embryo matures inside an egg that is inside the mother until it is ready to hatch. This is not unusual for rays, as most are like this.

Habitat

Guitarfish are bottom feeders, which bury themselves in mud or sand and eat things such as worms, crabs, and clams. Most can tolerate saltwater, freshwater, and brackish water. They generally live close to the beach/coastline or in estuaries as far underwater as 30 meters.

^{Main source: Wikipedia
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarfish}