Locals in awe as rarely-seen creature washes up on remote beach: 'What a privilege'
Puzzled by the approximately 1.8-metre fish with 'white spots', and its resemblance to both a shark and stingray, they turned to social media for answers — sparking the curiosity of numerous other locals and marine experts.
Many responded that they believed the 'beautiful' creature to be a white-spotted wedgefish, otherwise known as a bottlenose wedgefish or a white-spotted guitarfish, deeming it a 'cool but sad find'.
'What a privilege to come across this!' Kirsti Abbott, head of science at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), commented, urging the beachgoers to report their finding for research.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Jeff Johnson, manager of ichthyology at Queensland Museum, confirmed the fish seen on Casuarina Beach is a 'species of wedgefish, genus Rhynchobatus'.
'This group are also known as guitarfish, or shovelnose rays. The largest of these can reach a maximum of at least 2.7m in total length.'
These are three species of wedgefish, all of which can be found in Northern Territory waters, Johnson explained.
'The features that separate them, relative position of the dorsal and pelvic fins, and configuration of white and dark spots on the head and pectoral fins, are not clear in the photos supplied.
'Although impossible to confirm, it is most likely that this one is a white-spotted guitarfish, Rhynchobatus australiae.
While aesthetically they do boast features that resemble both sharks and rays, wedgefish are not hybrids, and instead belong to a group of cartilaginous fish known as elasmobranchs, which includes both sharks and rays.
'All wedgefishes are bottom-dwelling and feature occasionally in anglers' catches, in estuaries, bays and coastal waters. They are totally harmless to humans,' Mr Johnson said. Given they are often found 60 metres below the surface, the creatures do not often wash up on beaches, he added.
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Given there are no obvious wounds on the fish found in Darwin, it is impossible to say what caused its death, Johnson said. 'Gill nets set for commercial fishing are a significant threat to wedgefishes, unless they are monitored regularly to release any non-target species such as this.'
Leo Guida, with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, told Yahoo wedgefish are 'vulnerable to trawl fisheries across northern Australia because of their tendency to live near or on the seafloor'.
'Fortunately though, trawlers in Australia have an 'escape hatch' in the net called a 'turtle excluder device (TED)' that enables large animals to escape relatively unharmed from being scooped up.'
While the white-spotted guitarfish is critically endangered around the world largely due to its highly valued meat and fins, 'Australia is considered a global 'lifeboat' for wedgefish because their numbers are relatively healthy in our waters', Guida said.
'However, it is estimated that in Australian waters their numbers have declined by around 30 per cent over the last 45 years, demonstrating why conservation measures like TEDs are crucial for these amazing creatures and the environmental performance of our fisheries.'
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