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Size
4.6 feet (1.4 m) in width -
Diet
Small fishes, bivalves, cephalopods, crustaceans and worms -
Range
Indo-West Pacific -
Habitat
Inshore over sandy bottoms and coastal areas
Physical Characteristics
- Grows to about 4.6 feet (1.4 m) in width.
- Body is more rhomboidal than circular, with a distinctly pointed snout.
- Juveniles have been discovered with moderately large, dark brown spots on body and tail that become hollow with growth until they resemble the spots of a leopard.
- Adults show thick, dark brown, irregular rings as spots with a pale ventral side.
- 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).
- Has rectangular spiracles located on top of its head.
Animal Fun Fact
The leopard whipray’s tail can be up to three times its body length.
Diet / Feeding
- Feeds on small fishes, bivalves, cephalopods, crustaceans and worms.
Range / Habitat
- Widespread in the Indo-West Pacific from South Africa to the Red Sea including areas of Japan and Australia.
- This stingray is demersal, living on soft substrate, mainly inshore and in coastal areas.
- Tends to remain residential to one area and not move around much.
- Juveniles often found in and around estuaries.
Reproduction & Growth
- This species is ovoviviparous (produces eggs that hatch internally).
- Gives live birth after a 12 month gestation.
- Litter sizes are between 1 and 7 pups with each one being as large as 30 cm across.
- Reaches sexual maturity between 4 and 5 years of age.
Conservation Status
- “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List.
Additional Information
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- Valued for its meat, skin and cartilage in some locations.
- Habitat destruction is also negatively affecting the population
- Often mistaken for other similar species, such as Himantura fava and Himantura uarnak.
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- Not described as its own species until 2008.
Sources
- www.iucnredlist.org
Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M. and Last, P.R. 2008. Himantura leoparda sp. nov., a new whipray (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) from the Indo-Pacific. In: Last, P.R., White, W.T. and Pogonoski, J.J. (eds), Descriptions of new Australian Chondrichthyans, pp. 293-301. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper No 022.
Mann, B., Daly, R., Parker, D., Jordaan, G., Cliff, G., Nkabi, N., … Bennett, R. (2025). Catch trends and population status of the leopard whipray Himantura leoparda (family Dasyatidae) off the east coast of South Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 47(4), 403–412. https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2025.2546615
Navarro, J. & Rastgoo, A.R. & Giménez, J. (2024) Unravelling the trophic ecology of poorly studied and threatened elasmobranchs inhabiting the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Marine Biology, 171(1), Article 24
