An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyan fishes inhabiting the northern Gulf of Mexico Part 1: Batoidea Author Jones, Christian M. National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, 3209 Frederic Street, Pascagoula, Mississippi, U. S. A. Author Driggers Iii, William B. Author Hannan, Kristin M. Riverside Technologies Inc., Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, 3209 Frederic Street, Pascagoula, Mississippi, U. S. A. kristin. hannan @ noaa. gov; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 2687 - 3331 Author Hoffmayer, Eric R. Author Jones, Lisa M. Author Raredon, Sandra J. Smithsonian Institution, Division of Fishes, Museum Support Center, 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, Maryland, U. S. A. raredons @ si. edu; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 8295 - 6000 text Zootaxa 2020 2020-06-26 4803 2 281 315 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.4803.2.3 1175-5326 3909109 325DB7EF-94F7-4726-BC18-7B074D3CB886 Aetobatus narinari (Euphrasen, 1790) —spotted eagle ray, whitespotted eagle ray Synonyms: Aetobatis latirostris Dumeril, 1861 Aetobatis narinari (Euphrasen, 1790) Muliobatis marcgravii Billberg, 1833 Raja narinari Euphrasen, 1790 Raja tajara Bonnaterre, 1788 Distribution. This species is distributed throughout the northern GOM, from the Texas/ Mexico border to southern Florida. It is regularly captured in shallow coastal waters but has also been recorded out to 150 m in depth during NMFS SEFSC trawl surveys. First Record in GOM . The first record of this species from the northern GOM was a report by Bean (1885) of a specimen ( USNM 37196 ) collected sometime before May 21 st , 1885 (when it was received by the USNM ) near Cedar Keys , Florida . Remarks. This species, once believed to be circumtropical in distribution, was recently shown to be a complex of three closely related but distinct species; with Aeotobatus narinari occupying the Atlantic Ocean, Aetobatus laticeps Gill, 1865 occupying the eastern Pacific Ocean, and Aetobatus ocellatus (Kuhl, 1823) occupying the Indo-West and Central Pacific ( White and Last 2016a ). Conservation Status. Near Threatened