Blackspotted Whipray
Maculabatis astra
- Near threatened
- Card rarity: Uncommon
- Sharks and rays
The black-spotted whipray is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in the coastal waters off southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Long thought to be a variant of the related brown whipray, this species has an angular, diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc and a whip-like tail without fin folds. It is characterized by its dorsal color pattern, which consists of a variably extensive covering of small, close-set dark, and sometimes also white spots, on a grayish-brown background. In addition, the tail has alternating light and dark saddles past the stinging spine. This species reaches a maximum recorded width of 80 cm (31 in).
Classification
- Class
- Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Dasyatidae
- Genus
- Maculabatis