Half-shark, half-ray. Looks like someone glued the front of a stingray onto the back of a small shark.
Guitarfish are an evolutionary curiosity — flat ray-like front body with the lateral mouth of a stingray, but a thick shark-like tail and dorsal fins. They hunt by burying in sand and sensing buried prey with electroreceptors, similar to stingrays.
Several species are Critically Endangered after decades of bycatch and targeted fishing for their fins — the giant guitarfish (Glaucostegus typus) of the Indo-Pacific is among the most threatened cartilaginous fish in the world.
In our region, the bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) appears occasionally on Maldives sand patches and Mozambique. Most encounters are luck rather than schedule.
Tap a month to highlight it across destinations, or hover any cell for details.
This species hasn't been logged at any of our partner sites yet — destination + season data will appear here once we've confirmed a reliable spot.
We're still curating destinations where this species can be reliably encountered. Check back soon, or chat with us for a custom itinerary.
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