Three new stingrays (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae) from the Indo–West Pacific

Three undescribed stingrays were discovered as part of a broader revision of the family Dasyatidae that formed part of the Chondrichthyan Tree of Life project. This research forms part of a sequence of papers on rays aimed at describing unnamed species for inclusion in a multi-authored guide to rays of the world. The first part of this series focused on a redefinition of genera of the family Dasyatidae. The new Indo–West Pacific taxa are represented by separate genera from three dasyatid subfamilies:<em> Himantura australis</em> sp. nov. (northern Australia and Papua New Guinea), <em>Taeniura lessoni</em> sp. nov. (Melanesia) and <em>Telatrygon biasa</em> sp. nov. (Indo–Malay Archipelago). <em>Himantura australis</em> sp. nov., which belongs to a complex of four closely related reticulate whiprays, differs subtly from its congeners in coloration, morphometrics and distribution. <em>Taeniura lessoni</em> sp. nov. is the second species in a genus containing the widely-distributed <em>T. lymma</em>, which is possibly the most abundant stingray in shallow coral-reef habitats of the Indo–Pacific, with the new species apparently restricted to Melanesia<em>. Taeniura lessoni</em> sp. nov. is distinguishable by the absence of a distinctive pair of vivid blue longitudinal stripes on the dorsolateral edges of the tail which is one of the most distinctive features of <em>T. lymma</em>. <em>Telatrygon biasa</em> sp. nov. belongs to a small, recently designated genus of stingrays represented by four species in the tropical Indo-West Pacific. <em>Telatrygon biasa </em>sp. nov. differs from these species in morphometrics. The new species differs markedly from <em>T. zugei</em> in its NADH2 sequence. <em>Telatrygon crozieri </em>is resurrected as a valid northern Indian Ocean representative of the <em>T. zugei</em> complex.