Guitarfish Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Flattened, triangular head and forebody blending into a long, muscular, shark-like tail with a well-developed caudal fin
• Overall silhouette resembles the body of a stringed guitar when viewed from above
• Two similarly sized dorsal fins set far back near the tail, unlike most true rays
• Coloring usually plain sandy brown, gray, or olive on top for camouflage against the seafloor, pale below
• Pointed or rounded snout depending on species, with small eyes set on top of the head

Common look-alikes

• Shovelnose rays have an even more elongated, wedge-shaped snout that is broader and flatter than the typical guitarfish rostrum.
• True sharks have gill slits on the sides of the head and a body that is round in cross-section, not flattened like a guitarfish's disc-bearing forebody.
• Skates and stingrays lack the shark-like tail and paired dorsal fins, having instead a thin whip tail or a tail with a single small fin.

Where you'll see one

Guitarfish are bottom-dwellers found in shallow, warm coastal waters over sand or mud, including bays, estuaries, and nearshore reef flats in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide. They often bury themselves partially in sediment, leaving only their eyes exposed while waiting to ambush small prey.