Guitarfish with a flattened, narrow, wedge-shaped disc with a strongly depressed trunk; snout translucent except rostral cartilage; fin margins pale; dorsal uniformly yellow or brown and white ventrally; denticles enlarged on back and top of the head and mostly joined along the entire length in the midline.

Biology 

Length: Sharpnose guitarfish can reach a maximum length of around 3.3 to 4.9 feet (1 to 1.5 meters).

Gestation period: Unknown Littter size: Ovoviviparous, produces 6-10 pups a litter. 

Life Expectancy: Estimated as 15 years

Diet: Sharpnose guitarfish are cartilaginous bottom-dwellers that predominantly consume a range of tiny benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, and small fish.

Habitat and Distribution

Habitat: Sharpnose Guitarfish can be found from near to shore (including the intertidal zone) to depths of 120 metres on the continental shelf. 

Distribution: Sharpnose Guitarfish have been reported to be reasonably common in the northern Indian Ocean, from the Arabian/Persian Gulf to Myanmar. Based on considerable recent survey work, it appears to be absent from these eastern Indian Ocean islands. 

Depth: 0-120 m

Commerical Value

Fins are in high demand in Southeast Asian countries to prepare luxury dishes whereas gills and liver oil are used in the preparation of cosmetics, medicines and dietary supplements. It is consumed and utilised when it is landed; meat is locally exported to cities like Kochi, Chennai, and Bengaluru. The dried skin and bones exported from the Bay of Bengal region have also been found at Lahul and Spiti, being sold as a remedy for body pain.

Threats

70% of guitarfishes are globally threatened due to continuous decline and localized extinctions.They are caught as by-catch and face intense fishing pressure by trawlers, hook and line and gill netters.

References

• Ashutosh Singh, Gul Jabin, Bheem Dutt Joshi, Mukesh Thakur, Lalit Kumar Sharma & Kailash Chandra (2020) DNA barcodes and ethnomedicinal use of Sharpnose guitarfish Glaucostegus granulatus by the locals at Keylong, Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 5:1, 113-114, DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2019.1698329
• Purushottama, G B and Thomas, Sujitha and Rajesh, K M and Nataraja, G D and Ulvekar, Chandrakanth Ganapati and Kizhakudan, Shoba Joe and Rohit, Prathibha and Zacharia, P U (2022) Batoid fishes (Elasmobranchii: Rhinidae, Rhynchobatidae, Rhinobatidae, Glaucostegidae and Dasyatidae) from the southeastern Arabian Sea. Marine Fisheries Information Service, Technical and Extension Series (251). pp. 7-14. ISSN 0254-380X
• Vincent P.D., Soumya K., Ajith J.C., and Mohamed Hatha A.A., 2018, Landings of IUCN Red Listed finfishes at three major fishing harbours of south-west coast of India, International Journal of Aquaculture, 8(8): 53-64 (doi: 10.5376/ija.2018.08.0008)