ABSTRACT: Wedgefishes, family Rhinidae, are collectively identified as one of the most threatened groups of chondrichthyan fishes globally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Within the family Rhinidae, bowmouth guitarfish Rhina ancylostoma have been designated by the IUCN as Critically Endangered since 2018. Bowmouth guitarfish were first introduced to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 2005 when the Newport Aquarium, Newport, KY, USA, acquired a single female. In 2007, a male bowmouth guitarfish was added into the collection with the goal of establishing an institutional breeding program and to generate foundational knowledge for future breeding programs. This study presents an ethogram of mating behaviors exhibited by a mixed sex group of bowmouth guitarfish using behavioral observations from December 2017 through August 2022. The observed interactions between male and female bowmouth guitarfish led to the identification of 5 male reproductive behaviors: hovering, chasing, wrapping up, flipping/rolling, and copulation. These 5 behaviors were directly linked with successful reproduction, e.g. active breeding and live parturition, in the imperiled species R. ancylostoma. The breeding behavioral knowledge presented within this study provides the first step to a viable breeding program, a critical tool for conserving wild populations.

中文翻译：

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极度濒危弓口吉他鱼犀牛钩口鱼繁殖行为的观察

摘要：楔形鱼属于犀科鱼类，被国际自然保护联盟 (IUCN) 濒危物种红色名录认定为全球最受威胁的软骨鱼类鱼类之一。在犀科鱼科中，弓口吉他鱼自 2018 年起被 IUCN 指定为极度濒危物种。弓口吉他鱼于 2005 年首次被引入动物园和水族馆协会 (AZA)，当时美国肯塔基州纽波特的纽波特水族馆收购了单身女性。 2007 年，一条雄性弓口吉他鱼被添加到收藏中，目的是建立机构育种计划并为未来的育种计划提供基础知识。本研究利用 2017 年 12 月至 2022 年 8 月的行为观察，展示了弓口吉他鱼混合性别群体表现出的交配行为行为图。观察到的雄性和雌性弓口吉他鱼之间的相互作用导致识别出 5 种雄性生殖行为：盘旋、追逐、包裹、翻转/滚动和交配。这 5 种行为与濒危物种钩虫的成功繁殖直接相关，例如活跃繁殖和活产。本研究中提出的繁殖行为知识为可行的繁殖计划提供了第一步，这是保护野生种群的关键工具。