Pastinachus ater
Cowtail Stingray
©Anne Hoggett: A Cowtail Stingray mostly buried in sand with a Sharksucker hovering above. Note tail is exposed at top left of photo. Watson's Bay, Lizard Island.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Elasmobranchii
Order
Myliobatiformes
Family
Dasyatidae
Genus
Pastinachus
Species
Pastinachus ater
Colours
Distinguishing features
A large, thick, uniformly dark-coloured ray. Disc rhomboidal with a wide central band of short denticles running from near snout to tail base. Tail broad at base, tapering gradually to sting. A wide skin fold under the tail, terminating abruptly about two sting-lengths behind sting tip (Last and Stevens, 2009)
Size
- Up to 183 cm (Length of specimen)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Similar taxa
-
Animalia:
species: Pastinachus sephen
is now known to be restricted to the Red Sea but the name was used in the past for Pastinachus ater in Australia and New Guinea (Last and Stevens, 2009).
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Local abundance
- Lizard Island: This is probably the most frequently-seen large, thick stingray seen at Lizard Island.
Web resources
References
- Cribb, B.W. and I.D. Whittington (2004). Anterior adhesive areas and adjacent secretions in the parasitic flatworms Decacotyle lymmae and D. tetrakordyle (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from the gills of stingrays. Invertebrate Biology, 123: 68-77. LIRS catalog number 1657.
- Last, P.R. and J.D. Stevens (2009). Sharks and Rays of Australia.: 2nd Edition CSIRO Publishing, Australia.