Family Aetobatidae Agassiz, 1858

Type genus. Aetobatus Blainville, 1816 (new status).

Definition. Large to very large rays (adults reaching at least 3 m in width) with a rhomboidal, ‘wing-like’ disc; trunk broad, depressed and thick. Head narrow, elevated above the disc, protruding forward anteriorly; anteriormost part of pectoral fins joining head at level of eyes; eyes lateral on head; spiracles dorsolateral on head, openings almost completely visible in dorsal view. Mouth ventral, broad, lined with large patches of sensory pores and papillae; internasal flap with a deep v-shaped notch. Teeth in a single row in each jaw at all postnatal stages; upper tooth plate much broader than long; lower tooth plate much longer than wide with chevron-shaped teeth. Pectoral fins broad, with narrow rounded apices and free rear tips broadly rounded. A single, small dorsal fin; a short and obvious free rear tip, dorsal-fin origin well in front of pelvic-fin free rear tips. Tail long, whip-like, narrow-based, much longer than disc; one or more prominent caudal stings present behind dorsal fin. Rostral part of pectoral fins without subocular ridges connecting them to pectoral disc (pectoral radials interrupted from separate cephalic lobe). Lateral margin of postorbital process of chondrocranium prolonged and ventrally protruded, forming a bar-like projection. Hyomandibular Accessory Cartilage 1 (HAC-1) absent from near distal end of the hyomandibular cartilage. Puboischiadic bar of pelvic girdle strongly arched and only moderately robust. Pectoral-fin radials (excluding rostral cartilages) 89–116.

Remarks. In his description of a new genus and species of ‘skate’ from the Hawaiian Islands, Agassiz (1858) refers to the genera Myliobatis, Rhinoptera, Aëtobatis and Zygobatis, which he divided into two subfamilies, Myliobatinae and Aëtobatinae. Gill (1865, p. 136) corrected the family-group name Aëtobatinae Agassiz, 1858 to Aetobatinae. We propose to use the short (original) stem Aetobat- in line with Article 29.3.1.1 of the Code (see also van der Laan, 2014). The subfamily Stoasodontinae was used by Gill (1893), with the type genus inferred from the stem as Stoasodon. This genus was first coined by Cantor (1849), but was an unneeded replacement for Aetobatis Müller & Henle, 1837 and, thus is a synonym of Aetobatus Blainville, 1816. As such, Stoasodontinae is a junior synonym of Aetobatidae.

Species. Aetobatus flagellum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), A. laticeps (Gill, 1865), A. narinari (Euphrasen, 1790), A. narutobiei White, Furumitsu & Yamaguchi, 2013, and A. ocellatus (Kuhl, 1823). Aetobatus latirostris (Duméril, 1861) from the Eastern Atlantic is currently considered a synonym of A. narinari. Further investigation is required to determine if it is truly a distinct species.