Diving with Guitarfish
Shark or a Ray? It’s Neither!
Appearing as the perfect combination of shark and ray, guitarfish represent their own family of cartilaginous fish, displaying characteristics reminiscent of both. They are famous for their elongated, flattened bodies, ray-like wings, and two dorsal fins on their tails, taking on the shape of a guitar, giving them their common name. Also known as banjo sharks or fiddler rays, there are roughly 50 distinct species covering three different genera.
Diving with guitarfish is fairly common as they are abundant in numbers and widely distributed throughout tropical and warm temperate ocean waters worldwide. They are easily encountered by divers and snorkelers as they prefer shallow waters where they swim slowly along the bottom, feeding on small fish, mollusks, and crustaceans. They do like to burry themselves in the muddy or sandy seafloor, making them difficult to spot at times, so keep your eyes wide open while looking for them. Explore the map below for the most popular dive sites where they have been encountered around the world.
Dive sites with this animal Show more on map
★★★★☆ Fish Tank
This dive site has many names, Fish Tank, Fish Factory, Stingray City and they all fit! There is actually a fish factory on the island and this is the reason why there are so many rays and moray eels.
★★★★☆ Fly Point
With undulating soft coral topography and two easy to navigate ledges, Fly Point Marine Park is known as the best shore-access dive on the Eastern sea-board of Australia. Max Depth: 28m. Best dived on high slack tide.
★★★★★ Maroshi Thila
This dive site in the north of the Maldives is a pinnacle starting at 16m with overhangs and canyons. Here you will enjoy great fish life and lots of colorful soft corals.
★★★★☆ Izu Oceanic Park
Izu Oceanic Park is the most popular dive site in Higashi-Izu. The facilities are good and there is a pool. In the summer, the area is crowded with beachgoers and ordinary people who use the pool.
★★★★★ Epave Chi Chuan
The wreck is a Chinese trawler lying on its side in a North–South orientation, with the bottom at 32 m and the top of the deck at 26 m. There is no mast. Both the cabin and the gangway can be crossed safely. The wreck’s holds can be visited by Advanced Wreck divers.
★★★★☆ Faille de Poe
Located in the middle of the Poe Lagoon, the rift is a really atypical site. It is an old river bed with limited visibility, often with a lot of current and an exceptional fauna. Minimum requirement is 20 dives.