Systematic revision of the Myliobatis aquila cryptic species complex: Formal description of Myliobatis isottae sp. nov., Myliobatis mediterranea sp. nov., Myliobatis levantina sp. nov., Myliobatis capensis sp. nov., and Myliobatis meridionalis sp. no

The taxonomic framework of rajiforms within the genus Myliobatis has historically been confounded by pronounced morphological conservatism. Prior to this study, the scientific community widely considered Myliobatis aquila to be a single panmictic species, distributed across European temperate waters, throughout the Mediterranean basin, and along the African coast down to South Africa. The present research demonstrates for the first time that this systematic assumption fails to reflect the actual biological structure of the taxon, revealing instead that the nominal species constitutes an extensive cryptic species complex. By integrating a molecular approach based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene barcoding with the examination of vouchered specimens preserved in museum collections, our analyses yielded an unexpectedly high genetic divergence reaching 25 percent. These unprecedented findings dismantle the paradigm of a single global population and enable the formal description of five new species: Myliobatis isottae sp. nov. from the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas, Myliobatis mediterranea sp. nov. from the Strait of Sicily and the Maltese archipelago, Myliobatis levantina sp. nov. from the Levantine Sea, and two South African endemics, Myliobatis capensis sp. nov. and Myliobatis meridionalis sp. nov. Consequently, the genetic identity of the nominal species Myliobatis aquila is circumscribed to the clade extending from the Atlantic Ocean into the western Mediterranean and South Africa. The identification of this cryptic diversity establishes a rigorous taxonomic foundation, which is essential for the reassessment of ecological parameters and the implementation of targeted conservation strategies to protect marine taxa now recognized as highly localized and vulnerable.