Javanese Cownose Rays are a part of the genus Rhinoptera and are the only members of the family Rhinopteridae. Characteristics of this family include having distinct and narrow heads, being rhomboidal or ‘wing’like’ with their bodies being wider than they are long, snouts indented near the top of their heads with two large lobes in front of their nasal curtain, plate-like teeth, the pectoral fins beginning below the spiracles, smooth skin that’s brown on top and white underneath, and finally they do not possess thorns or enlarged denticles.

Cownose Rays are a species of Batoidea; a superorder of flat-bodied cartilaginous fish having five (or six if you include the family Hexatrygonidae) gill slits under their pectoral fins and ventrally located mouths. They’ve been on the planet for millions of years, evolving from the Chondrichthyes during the Early Carboniferous Period (358.9 million to 298.9 million years ago) and the subclass Elasmobranchii. Characteristics of the Elasmobranchii subclass include having no swim bladder, the upper jaw not fusing to the cranium and eyes having a tapetum lucidum.