About Rhinoptera steindachneri Evermann & Jenkins, 1891
The golden cownose ray, also called the Pacific cownose ray (Rhinoptera steindachneri), is a species of ray. It lives in the East Pacific, along the coasts of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Its natural habitats include open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, estuarine waters, intertidal marshes, and coastal saline lagoons. These rays often form schools, and sometimes associate with spotted eagle rays. Like all other eagle ray species, this ray is ovoviviparous. Its ovulation and birth take place in May, June, and July. The species has low fecundity, large body size at both maturity and birth, and follows a continuous, synchronous annual reproductive cycle. As documented by Joseph Bizzarro, Wade Smith, J. Fernando Márquez-Farías, and Robert E. Hueter, this ray has little value to fisheries and is harmless to humans. The main threats to the species are overexploitation and habitat destruction. Parasites that live on this ray are most strongly affected by the ray's body size, diet, and feeding behavior.
