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Size
6.5 feet (410 cm) in length, including its tail, and 4.6 feet (140 cm) in width -
Diet
Crabs, shrimp and shelled invertebrates -
Range
ndo-West Pacific from the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to Northern Australia -
Habitat
Inshore over sandy bottom in the open and near reefs
Physical Characteristics
Size
- This is a large stingray reaching 6.5 feet (410 cm) in length, including its tail. It grows to about 4.6 feet (140 cm) in width. The newborn are about 8 inches (20 cm) wide.
Body Composition
- The tail is long and slender (up to three times the body length), tapers to a fine point and has a single spine (or barb).
- Snout is broadly triangular and the disc-shaped body is slightly longer than wide.
Color
- Upper surface of the adult’s body and tail is sandy brown in color and covered in a pattern of closely spaced leopard-like circular brown to black rings.
- Juvenile has gray to brown coloration with larger black spots.
Animal Fact
The leopard whipray’s tail can be up to three times its body length.
Diet / Feeding
- Leopard whipray feeds on crabs, shrimp and shelled invertebrates.
Range / Habitat
Range
- Leopard whipray occurs in the Indo-West Pacific from the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to Northern Australia. It is not present in the Western Indian Ocean.
Habitat
- This stingray is found inshore over sandy bottom in the open and near reefs.
Reproduction & Growth
- This species is ovoviviparous.
Conservation Status
- “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List.
Additional Information
- Sometimes appears as by-catch in trawl nets, deep gill nets and hook-and-line fisheries.
- Leopard whipray is valued for its meat, skin and cartilage in some locations.
- Habitat destruction is also negatively affecting the leopard whipray.
- Also known as Bleeker’s variegated whipray, and often mistaken for other similar species, such as Himantura fava and Himantura uarnak.
Sources
- www.fishbase.org
- www.iucnredlist.org
- Sharks and Rays of Australia, Last, Peter R. and Stevens, John D. Harvard University Press