Bowmouth Guitarfish Clasper Replica

Description

Bowmouth Guitarfish Clasper Replica measures 9.3 inches. Bowmouth Guitarfish Clasper Replica is museum quality polyurethane resin cast made in USA.

In biology, a clasper is a male anatomical structure found in some groups of animals, used in mating. Male cartilaginous fish have claspers formed from the posterior portion of their pelvic fin which serve to channel semen into the female’s cloaca during mating.

The act of mating in some fish including sharks usually includes one of the claspers raised to allow water into the siphon through a specific orifice. The clasper is then inserted into the cloaca, where it opens like an umbrella to anchor its position. The siphon then begins to contract, expelling water and sperm.

The claspers of many shark species have spines or hooks, which may hold them in place during copulation. Male chimaeras have cephalic claspers (tenacula) on their heads, which are thought to aid in holding the female during mating.

Mature Bowmouth Gutarfish or  Rhina ancylostoma males have large claspers proportional to their bodies and have spines. Females are mature when their shell gland and uteri are developed. Males mature at 8 years old and females mature at 7 years old. Mating occurs every summer between monogamous partners.

Adults can reach approximately 9.8 feet in length and have a maximum weight of about 298 lbs. Bowmouth Guitarfish has a distinctive shape that resembles a cross between a shark and a ray, however, it is actually a member of the ray family.

The front of its body is flattened and wide, while the rest of its body and the large dorsal fins create a shark-like appearance. A broadly rounded snout shows a row of spiky thorns on the bony ridges above both eyes and along the back and shoulders.

The tail is longer than the body and the pectoral fins are large with a broad base typical of a ray. Adult coloration is grayish-brown in color with white spots on the dorsal fins and darker spots on the head and shoulders.

Juveniles are brown to bluish-grey with large white spots, partial eye-spots on the pectoral fins and black spots between the eyes. The Guitarfish, also referred to as shovelnose rays, are a family, Rhinobatidae, of rays.

The combined range of the various species is tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters worldwide.

Bowmouth Guitarfish have a body form intermediate between those of sharks and rays. The tail has a typical shark-like form, but in many species, the head has a triangular, or guitar-like shape, rather than the disc-shape formed by fusion with the pectoral fins found in other rays.

The female usually gives birth to four young, each about 18 inches long. Guitarfish are ovoviviparous; the embryo matures inside an egg within the mother until it is ready to hatch. This is typical of rays. Ovoviviparous, meaning it produces eggs that hatch within the mother’s body, and the young are born alive.

The female usually gives birth to four young, each about 18 inches long.

Bowmouth Guitarfish are bottom feeders that bury themselves in mud or sand and eat worms, crabs, and clams. Some can tolerate salt, fresh, and brackish water. They generally live close to the beach coastline or in estuaries.

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