Diamond Ray or Backwater Butterfly Ray
Pteroplatea natalensis Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911: 56. Holotype (unique): SAM 10632. Type locality: Off Cape Natal, west by north for 6.5 miles, South Africa.
Local synonymy: Pteroplatea natalensis: Gilchrist & Thompson, 1911: 56; von Bonde & Swart, 1923: 17; Barnard, 1925: 81; Smith, 1934: 83. Pteroplatea micrura: Barnard, 1925: 80. Gymnura tentaculata: Fowler, 1941: 450 (in part). Gymnura japonica: Smith, 1949a: 71; Compagno, 1986: 138; Compagno, 1999: 117 (?). Gymnura natalensis: Smith, 1949a: 71, fig. 86; Smith, 1965: 71, fig. 86; Smith & Smith, 1966: 32, fig.; Wallace, 1967c: 26, fig. 12; Compagno, 1986: 138, fig. 30.7, pl. 5; Compagno et al., 1989: 110, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 117; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 85; Mann, 2013: 55; NPOA, 2013: 62; da Silva et al., 2015: 246; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 147; Weigmann, 2016: 979; Yokota et al., 2016: 518, fig. 24.7. Gymnura micrura: Barnard, 1959: 27, figs. 5, 5a, pl. 4.
South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 5023, SAIAB 7859 [former ORI B99], SAIAB 7863 [former ORI B651], SAIAB 13325, SAIAB 25299, SAIAB 26471, SAIAB 48832
South African distribution: Entire coast from the Orange River (NC) to the northern KZN border with Mozambique.
Remarks: Although G. japonica is sometimes listed as occurring in South Africa, G. natalensis is the only species occurring in the area. Yokota et al. (2016) suggested that G. altavela is very similar and the two species may be synonymous, but molecular data indicates that G. natalensis is a distinct species (Weigmann, 2016).
Conservation status: LC (2019).