The giant guitarfish are a type of ray that has a morphology similar to sharks with their two dorsal fins. Like other sharks, giant guitarfish are exploited for their fins for export, while other parts are consumed by the locals (Mutaqqin et al. 2018). The giant guitarfish fins have the highest selling value compared to other types of sharks and rays, which is US$ 964/kg or around Rp. 13 million/kg (Jabado 2019). Thus, it is dubbed the "King of Shark Fins". The high economic value of the giant guitarfish causes it to be threatened with overexploitation and it is feared that its population will continue to decline.

According to Last et al. (2016), 5 species of giant guitarfish have been found in Indonesia, namely Rhynchobatus australiae, Rhynchobatus springeri, Rhina ancylostoma, Rhynchobatus palpebratus and one species that is thought to have become extinct, namely Rhynchobatus cooki/Rhynchobatus compagnoi, which was last found in the 1990s in Jakarta. In addition to these 5 species, one other species is based on the DNA Barcoding Technique, namely Rhynchobatus laevis (Simeon et al. 2019). According to Yuwandana et al. (2020), in the waters of Northern Java was found 4 species of giant guitarfish, namely Rhynchobatus australiae, Rhynchobatus springeri, Rhina ancylostoma, Rhynchobatus laevis in considerable numbers. Based on data collection conducted by the Rekam Nusantara Foundation in the waters of Northern Java in 2019-2020, there were 5,701 individual giant guitarfish.