The shovelnose guitarfish can be identified due to its pointed head in addition to its guitar-shaped body. These rays are typically a light brown on top with a white underbelly. Its mouth is located underneath its body, which is perfect for eating prey that lives on the ocean floor.

The shovelnose guitarfish is easily mistaken for a shark; however, its pectoral fins are undoubtedly a feature of all rays. At full maturity, a male shovelnose guitarfish can reach up to 4 feet in length and the females are slightly larger at around 4.5 feet.

Shovelnose guitarfish primarily dwell along the southwestern coast of North America. They tend to live within shallow waters, in soft sandy or muddy bottoms, and often hang around rocky reefs, but some have been found as deep as 300 feet.

The shovelnose guitarfish have a diet composed of bottom-dwelling fish in addition to a variety of invertebrates, in particular, crab and shrimp. They are ambush predators during the day, and at night, they leave the ocean floor to actively hunt for prey. During the daytime, they bury themselves underneath the sand before swimming out and giving their prey the last surprise of their life. They use their “pebble-like” teeth to eat crustaceans and any bony fish they come across.

The shovelnose guitarfish mates seasonally in the summer, with males migrating to bays and females shortly following behind. The females are pregnant for approximately 9-12 months and give birth to a range of 6-24 offspring. Interestingly, the sex ratio of all the pups born at one time seems to be in a 1:1 ratio. A young shovelnose guitarfish is called a fry and is independent after birth.

There is no set maturation size; an individual continues to grow throughout their entire lifespan.

This shovelnose guitarfish was discovered to have magnetic molecules within one of its sensory systems, which is responsible for spatial orientation and awareness, and these particles are thought to help the receptors within the system respond to movement.

Their genus name “Rhinobatis” comes from ‘Rhine’, meaning Shark in Greek; and the latin word ‘Basis’ referring to rays.