Rhinobatos cemiculus ( Blackchin guitarfish)

The Blackchin guitarfish is amongst the type of fish that is found very often in Cyprus.

In Greek it is commonly known as viola, and is commonly confused with the Rhinobatosrhinobatos, another common fish in Cyprus. Even the fishermen usually confuse these fish due to the colour the biology and the morphology that the two species have.

The Blackchin guitarfish is considered to be a type of sting ray fish, with a diamond shaped body, thinner and longer than that of most sting rays. It mainly lives in the depths of the sea, near sandy and muddy habitats, at a depth of up to 100 metres. It usually moves close to the bottom of the sea or is hidden in the sand. Its length ranges between 40 and 80 centimetres, but it can also exceed one and a half metres. It feeds with the help of its fins, searching in the sand for its food that is made up of small fish and invertebrates. The Blackchin guitarfish reproduces once or twice a year and lays 4 to 8 eggs each time. It is usually caught it fish nets , but it has no commercial values therefore most times it is discarded