Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 4, 2026

Panray

The panrays are a genus, Zanobatus, of rays found in coastal parts of the warm East Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Morocco to Angola. It is the only genus in the family Zanobatidae, which is included in the Myliobatiformes order, but based on genetic evidence some authorities place it in Rhinopristiformes or a sister taxon to Rhinopristiformes.

Last revised
Jun 4, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
405 w
Citations
11
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Panray
Temporal range:
Striped panray, Zanobatus schoenleinii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Zanobatidae
Fowler, 1928
Genus: Zanobatus
Garman, 1913
Species

2, see text

The panrays are a genus, Zanobatus, of rays found in coastal parts of the warm East Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Morocco to Angola.1 It is the only genus in the family Zanobatidae, which is included in the Myliobatiformes order,2 but based on genetic evidence some authorities place it in Rhinopristiformes34 or a sister taxon to Rhinopristiformes.5

The two species of panrays are generally poorly known and one of the species was only scientifically described in 2016.16 They are up to about 60 cm (2 ft) long, and brownish above with a heavily mottled, blotched or barred dark pattern. They are ovoviviparous and feed on benthic invertebrates.1

Species

There are two recognized species in the genus:16

Fossil specimen of Plesiozanobatus source ↗

A fossil relative, †Plesiozanobatus Marramà et al, 2020 is known from the Early Eocene-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy. 7

References

References

  1. Last; White; de Carvalho; Séret; Stehmann; Naylor, eds. (2016). Rays of the World. CSIRO. pp. 134–136. ISBN 9780643109148.
  2. "Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  3. Naylor, G.J.P.; Caira, J.N.; Jensen, K.; Rosana, K.A.M.; Straube, N.; Lakner, C. (2012). Carrier, J.C.; Musick, J.A.; Heithaus, M.R. (eds.). Elasmobranch Phylogeny: A Mitochondrial Estimate Based on 595 Species (2 ed.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. pp. 31–56. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. Aschliman; Nishida; Miya; Inoue; Rosana; Naylord (2012). "Body plan convergence in the evolution of skates and rays (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 63 (1): 28–42. Bibcode:2012MolPE..63...28A. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.012. PMID 22209858.
  5. Last, P.R.; Séret, B.; Naylor, G.J.P. (2016). "A new species of guitarfish, Rhinobatos borneensis sp. nov. with a redefinition of the family-level classification in the order Rhinopristiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea)". Zootaxa. 4117 (4): 451–475. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4117.4.1. PMID 27395187.
  6. Séret, B. (2016). "Zanobatus maculatus, a new species of panray from the Gulf of Guinea, eastern central Atlantic (Elasmobranchii: Batoidea: Zanobatidae)". Zootaxa. 4161 (4): 509–522. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4161.4.2. PMID 27615946.
  7. Marramà, Giuseppe; Carnevale, Giorgio; Claeson, Kerin M.; Naylor, Gavin J. P.; Kriwet, Jürgen (2020-07-13). "Revision of the Eocene 'Platyrhina' species from the Bolca Lagerstätte (Italy) reveals the first panray (Batomorphii: Zanobatidae) in the fossil record". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (18): 1519–1542. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1783380. ISSN 1477-2019. PMC 7455076. PMID 32939187. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04.