Aetobatus narinari (Spotted eagleray or bonnetray)

(Euphrasen, 1790)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Chondrichthyes > Elasmobranchii > Batoidei >  Myliobatoidei >  Myliobatidae

Aetobatus narinari (Spotted eagleray or bonnetra[Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A thick-headed eagleray with many small white spots or rings on its black or bluish disk, a long rounded flat snout like a duck's bill, sharply curved angular corners on pectoral disk, and normally a single row of flat, chevron-shaped teeth. Underside white.

Size

To at least 2.3 m DW and possibly 4 m.

Range

East coast, Knysna to Natal and Mozambique; circumtropical.

Habitat

Shallow tropical inshore waters, often near reefs, at surface and near bottom.

Biology

An active, agile, powerful, pelagic ray occuring singly or in groups, often leaping from the water. Common from Natal north but rarely ranging into Eastern Cape waters in the summer. Eats bivalves, shrimps, crabs, octopi, polychaete worms, and sometimes fishes. Up to 4 young per litter.

Human Impact

Sometimes caught by shore anglers after a great struggle.

Text by Leonard J.V. Compagno, David A. Ebert and Malcolm J. Smale