Ray
Common Stingray
Dasyatis pastinaca
A plain, disc-shaped bottom ray of sandy inshore areas, armed with a venomous barb on its whip-like tail.
Also known as blue, blue stingray, pylstert, stingray
- Typical size
- Disc commonly 40-60 cm wide
- Habitat
- Sandy bays, estuaries and reef edges
- Depth
- Shallows to ~60 m
The common stingray has a smooth, diamond-shaped disc, usually grey-brown to olive above and pale below, with a long tapering tail bearing one or more serrated venomous spines. It spends much of its time half-buried in sand, breathing through spiracles behind the eyes.
It forages over soft bottoms in bays, estuaries and inshore reef margins, using electroreception to find buried worms, molluscs and small crustaceans. Divers should give it space, as the tail spine can inflict an intensely painful, occasionally serious wound if the ray is stepped on or cornered.