Dasyatis thetidis (Thorntail stingray)

Ogilby, in Waite, 1899

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

Dasyatis thetidis (Thorntail stingray) [Illustration by Ann Hecht ©]

Identification

A huge plain dark stingray with a broadly angular snout and pectoral disk, thick-based tail tapering to a slender whip much longer than body length, no upper caudal finfold but a long lower caudal finfold that ends far in front of tail tip, and upper disk and tail roughened by large flat thorns in large juveniles and adults (absent in small individuals); 1 or 2 stings on tail.

COLOUR:

Blackish, dark green or dark brown above, white below without markings.

Size

To 4 m TL and 2 m DW.

Range

East coast, from Cape Agulhas to central Mozambique; New Zealand and southern Australia.

Habitat

Lives on soft bottom from inshore to at least 382 m, common on offshore banks as well as close inshore.

Biology

Little known.

Eats crabs, mantis shrimps, bivalves, polychaetes and conger eels.

Human Impact

Caught by trawlers and sought as a game fish by shore and ski-boat anglers.

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