First record of Gorgona guitarfish (Pseudobatos prahli) off the Baja California peninsula with updated key to the guitarfishes of the North Eastern Pacific.

The Gorgona guitarfish is a poorly documented ray found in the Eastern Pacific. It can be distinguished from its congeners due to its distinctive coloration and rostral cartilages. Here I document an extensive northern range expansion of almost 2000 km based on a juvenile specimen caught off the Baja California Peninsula.

Aracaniform Swimming: A Proposed New Category of Swimming Mode in Bony Fishes (Teleostei: Tetraodontiformes: Aracanidae).

The deepwater boxfishes of the family Aracanidae are the phylogenetic sister group of the shallow-water, generally more tropical boxfishes of the family Ostraciidae. Both families are among the most derived groups of teleosts. All members of both families have armored bodies, the forward 70% of which are enclosed in rigid bony boxes (carapaces).

Killing them softly: Ontogeny of jaw mechanics and stiffness in mollusk-feeding freshwater stingrays.

Durophagous predators consume hard-shelled prey such as bivalves, gastropods, and large crustaceans, typically by crushing the mineralized exoskeleton. This is costly from the point of view of the bite forces involved, handling times, and the stresses inflicted on the predator's skeleton. It is not uncommon for durophagous taxa to display an ontogenetic shift from softer to harder prey items, implying that it is relatively difficult for smaller animals to consume shelled prey.