|Scientific Name:||Gymnura altavela| |Species
Authority:||(Linnaeus, 1758)| |Red List Category &
Criteria:||Vulnerable A2bd+4bd ver 3.1| |Assessor/s:||Vooren,
C.M., Piercy, A.N., Snelson Jr., F.F., Grubbs, R.D.,
Notarbartolo di Sciara, G. & Serena, S.| |Reviewer/s:||Musick,
J.A., Kyne, P.M., Cavanagh, R.D. & Valenti, S.V. (Shark Red List
Authority)| A wide-ranging butterfly ray from tropical and warm
temperate continental shelf waters on the eastern (Portugal to
Angola) and western (Massachusetts State, USA to Buenos Aires
Province, Argentina) sides of the Atlantic Ocean, including the
Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the Madeira and Canary
Islands. A large (to 220cm disc width) ray with a small litter
size (producing 1-8 pups depending on geographic location),
making it intrinsically vulnerable to population depletion. It
has a patchy and discontinuous distribution and appears to be
habitat-dependent. Noted for the quality of its meat and is
landed for human consumption (Figueiredo 1977). Gymnurids are s