Ray
Bluntnose Guitarfish
Acroteriobatus blochii
A sandy-brown guitarfish with a rounded snout, half-ray half-shark in shape, cruising Cape and south-coast sand flats.
Also known as bluntnose sandshark, guitarfish, lesser guitarfish
- Typical size
- Commonly 60-100 cm
- Habitat
- Sandy and muddy bays and surf zone
- Depth
- Shallows to about 100 m
The bluntnose guitarfish has the flattened front disc of a ray blended with the muscular, shark-like tail typical of guitarfishes. It is a plain sandy to greyish-brown above and pale below, with a short, rounded snout that separates it from the more pointed sandsharks.
It lies on sandy and muddy bottoms in the surf zone and shallow bays of the Western and Eastern Cape, often partly buried, feeding on crabs, worms and small fish. Harmless and slow-moving, it is sometimes caught by shore anglers and, being a slow-breeding elasmobranch, is best released carefully. Divers occasionally spot one gliding over sand flats.