Author: (Linnaeus, 1758)
Myliobatis aquila (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Myliobatis aquila (Linnaeus, 1758) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: front lobe of pectoral fin under snout (subrostral lobe) rather short and obtuse. Middle row of teeth in upper jaw 4 -6 times as long as broad, distance between fifth gill-slits a little more than distance between nostrils. Dorsal fin with narrow base, less than distance between nostrils, its origin behind pelvic fin tips by 1-3 times its base. Colour: upper surfaces dusky bronze; underside white with a brownish margin. Size: to 83 cm disc width.
Habitat: see family; moderately common. Food: see family. Reproduction: ovoviviparous; gestation 6-8 months, with 3-7 young produced.
Distribution: Atlantic coasts from Madeira and Morocco, also the Azores, northward to western coasts of Ireland and British Isles, English Channel, and south-western North Sea (rare); also, whole of Mediterranean (common in Adriatic and Ligurian Seas), but not Black Sea. Elsewhere, southward to South Africa (Natal).
Complementary iconography. D'Ancona, 1934: pl. 59 | Bini, 1967: 185-186, fig.
Eggs, embryonic and young stages. Lo Bianco, 1909: 671 | Tortonese, 1956: 279.