Bass (pronounced: ba-ss) refers to the lowest pitch in music or sound production. It can also refer to someone with deep vocal range or instruments which produce sounds at this low pitch range.
These smaller cousins of the Greater Guitarfish can be found all across Africa and provide great fun when fishing on light beach casting tackle. Being bottom feeders, anchovies, smelt and brown bait seem to work best when targeting these bottom feeders.
Lesser Guitarfish
The lesser guitarfish (Zapteryx brevirostris) is an aquatic benthic fish belonging to the Rhinobatidae family of fishes found throughout coastal waters in western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to northern Gulf of Mexico and Yucatan, Mexico. Common habitats for this marine species include surf-zones and estuaries with sandy bottom habitats containing surf. Their namesake fish shape features distinctive guitar-like fins which help it blend in well with their environment while their mottled olive or sandy brown skin allows it blend in perfectly while their eyes sit atop their heads with mouths located underside their bodies for optimal adaptation to this aquatic benthic lifestyle.
This fish feeds on benthic invertebrates such as small crustaceans, sand mussels and polychaete worms found on benthic invertebrates. Although considered benthic predators, guitarfish also scavenge for food from other animals. As with other batoids (order Rhinobatiformes), guitarfish are ovoviviparous; carrying their eggs within themselves until hatching time when their embryos consume the mother’s uterine fluid which contains mucus, fat and proteins rich with their mother.
These fish can thrive in both freshwater and brackish waters, though they prefer saltier marine habitats. They typically burrow themselves in sand or mud near patch reefs; although some species feed on algae directly, most prefer foraging benthic substrates for food instead. They have even been found buried up to 98 feet (30 meters).
Reproducing through internal fertilization, they give birth to live young. Males reach maturity at 19-20 inches of total length – indicated by well-developed claspers – while females can produce up to six pups in each litter.
However, unlike sharks, rays and skates which release their eggs into the sea, guitarfish lay their eggs on sandy plains they inhabit – this makes them highly vulnerable to habitat loss; thus threatening this species of fish.
As with most sharks and rays, lesser guitarfishes are frequently targeted for their fins, which are used in Asian cuisine for sharkfin soup. Furthermore, this fish can sometimes be caught as bycatch in shrimp trawls, leading to its populations to decrease dramatically.
Greater Guitarfish
Greater Guitarfishes have an extremely camouflaging chocolate brown body, which blends perfectly in with their surroundings in shallow waters and inshore areas where they reside. Their position often lies partially covered in sand and mud as they wait for crustaceans and small fish before ambushing them and using their long, slender snout to strike at them with precision. Growing to 55 to 64 inches long with dorsal fins consisting of small egg-shaped fins featuring irregularly pointed points as well as skin spotted denticles across their bodies, these creatures belong to order Rajiformes which also comprises skates rays & sharks among other.
These fish feed primarily on benthic crustaceans and mollusks such as shrimp, crabs and clams found in tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific such as East Africa, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Australia. Individual apex predators such as these typically swim solitary. Although considered top predators they also consume smaller chondrichtyans as well as benthic invertebrates.
Like their shark/ray counterparts, guitarfishes boast the best features of both: they possess gill slits but no stingers; their tail is used to propel rather than flap back and forth like other skates; and they reproduce via ovoviviparity; this means young develop in an egg within their mother until hatching occurs. Unfortunately due to intense fishing pressure from coastal nations worldwide – including our own! – Giant Guitarfish populations are declining across their range (Zhou and Griffiths 2008).
Even though Common and Shovelnose Guitarfishes appear very similar, you can differentiate them based on where their gill slits are situated: If they are on the sides, then it is a guitarfish; otherwise if they are underside then it is a shovelnose ray.
Rhinobatos lentiginosus Garman, 1880 is the scientific name of the Greater Guitarfish and belongs to subclass Elasmobranchii which encompasses stingrays, sharks and skates. Commonly referred to as the Spotted or Freckled Guitarfish or Atlantic Guitarfish it has also been known by other names: In Australia it’s commonly known as Chuchu Blanku (Papiamento), Geigenrochen (German), Gitarrog (Dutch), Koodakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka-sakka Finnish HajRocka (Swedish), Spotted Guitarfish or Smaskaellet Kudla-guitarfisk (Danish).In America this species caught as bycatch from shrimp trawlers without interest for fishermen (smaskaellet Kudla-guitarfisk) while in US shrimp trawlers without interest). In United States it caught as bycatch in shrimp trawlers without interest by fishermen which makes its capture/catch/ /hajrocka (Dutch), freckled guitarfish or Smaskaellet Kudla-guitarfisk(Danish).In U S.
Shovelnose Guitarfish
Rhinobatos productus
Shovelnose guitarfish share characteristics with both sharks and skates; their long pointed snouts, guitar-shaped bodies with dorso-ventral fins fused to their heads, dorso-ventral fins, and dorsal fins combine with pectoral fins fused to their heads help blend into soft shallow seafloor environments – typically less than 40 feet of depth – where they spend most of their lives. Olive to sandy brown hued bodies help them blend in easily among soft shallow seafloor environments where they spend most of their lives; these fish usually spend most of their lives living at least 40 feet deep.
Shovelnose guitarfish hunt at night among the sediment on the seafloor for crabs, worms, shrimp, small fish and clams, waiting half-buried until unsuspecting creatures walk past, before leaping out of hiding to grab it with their snouts. Shovelnose guitarfish can reach lengths between five and six feet long and 40 pounds in weight, and have been seen off California coastline from central California all the way to Mazatlan in Mexico; also found in Gulf of California and Gulf of California Gulf; unlike some shark and ray species which possess barbs or “stingers” which could harm people if touched directly by humans.
Shovelnose guitarfishes, like other members of the chondrichthyan order (sharks, skates and rays), are cartilaginous fishes. Cartilage is a durable flexible tissue lighter and more flexible than bone that helps these fish to move swiftly through water while quickly disappearing under coral beds or other objects for protection.
Shovelnose guitarfish inhabit coastal waters and estuaries from southern California to Mazatlan, Mexico, where they reside year-round. Females lay eggs during summer and may give birth to up to 28 well-developed offspring that survive into adulthood. They reproduce internaly through internal fertilization before giving live birth in summer months.
Although generally solitary fishes, shovelnose guitarfish may sometimes gather together in large groups in one area of the ocean or sea. This behavior is common for chondrichthyans; perhaps seeking protection from predators or protecting young. Unfortunately, such large groupings do not seem to benefit their survival in any significant way.
Common Guitarfish
Guitarfish are flat-bodied cartilaginous fish that resemble sharks and rays. Their chocolate brown topside and white underside serve as effective camouflage in the shallow waters where they prefer spending much of their lives. Guitarfish ambush crustaceans and small fish by lying partially covered in the mud or sand until one passes by; when that happens they pin it down with their snouts before sucking it up into their mouths for consumption.
They feature a short tail with two dorsal fins positioned far back on their bodies, producing live young that feed initially on yolk before receiving additional nutrition from gestation through maternal secretions. Adults can grow to an estimated length of 1.6 meters.
The Common Guitarfish (Rhinobatos rhinobatos) is one of over 50 species within the Rhinobatidae family of fishes found worldwide, commonly in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters. As with its close relatives in this family, the Common Guitarfish feeds on bottom-dwelling macrobenthic animals like crustaceans, mollusks, and fish.
Common guitarfish is frequently captured as bycatch in commercial trawl and longline fisheries across their range, and occasionally targeted directly in small-scale commercial fisheries. Their meat and fins are prized locally within coastal communities and exported abroad as by-products from shrimp trawl operations in the Gulf of Mexico – exported largely for consumption in Asia.
These fish are generally considered safe for human consumption, and are commonly seen scavenging along beaches and harbours. Their gentle disposition and tolerance of fishing gear makes them an attractive target for beach angling since they can easily be approached by anglers.
However, this activity could put these fish at risk. They are slow-growing species known for low fertility and late maturation that is especially vulnerable to depletion in many parts of their range as well as ocean acidification and climate change – factors which have led the United States National Marine Fisheries Service to list some species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.