The guitarfish are known for an elongated body with a flattened head and trunk and small, ray-like wings.

Guitarfish are bottom feeders that bury themselves in mud or sand and eat worms, crabs, and clams.

A clade within this diverse family, the Neoselachii, emerged by the Triassic, with the best-understood neoselachian fossils dating from the Jurassic.

Nelson's 2006 Fishes of the World recognized four genera in this family: Aptychotrema, Rhinobatos, Trygonorrhina, and Zapteryx.

Tarsistes is dubious and may be a synonym of Pseudobatos, and other genera formerly included in Rhinobatidae have been moved to Glaucostegidae, Rhinidae and Trygonorrhinidae.