---
title: "Bowmouth Guitarfish"
description: "Rhina ancylostomus — Fish. Rhina ancylostomus, also known as the bowmouth guitarfish, shark ray, mud skate, or sharkfin skate, is a species of ray and a member of the family Rhinidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/bowmouth-guitarfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Bowmouth Guitarfish

> Rhina ancylostomus — Fish. Rhina ancylostomus, also known as the bowmouth guitarfish, shark ray, mud skate, or sharkfin skate, is a species of ray and a member of the family Rhinidae.

- Scientific name: *Rhina ancylostomus*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 249
- iNaturalist taxon: [1303415](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1303415)

## Names

- en: Bowmouth Guitarfish
- de: Rundkopf-Geigenrochen
- es: Tiburón raya
- fr: Raie guitare à bouche arquée

## Countries with the most observations

AU (13), IN (11), MY (10), ID (8), MV (3)

## Summary

Rhina ancylostomus, also known as the bowmouth guitarfish, shark ray, mud skate, or sharkfin skate, is a species of ray and a member of the family Rhinidae. Its evolutionary affinities are not fully resolved, though it may be related to true guitarfishes and skates. This rare species occurs widely in the tropical coastal waters of the western Indo-Pacific, at depths of up to 90 m (300 ft). Highly distinctive in appearance, Rhina ancylostomus has a wide and thick body with a rounded snout and large shark-like dorsal and tail fins. Its mouth forms a W-shaped undulating line, and there are multiple thorny ridges over…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhina_ancylostoma

## Photo

![Bowmouth Guitarfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/bowmouth-guitarfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jun MATSUI · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/355229840

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/bowmouth-guitarfish?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).