Australian Bluespotted maskray

Source: Dave Harasti / http://www.daveharasti.com/.

​This next #flatshark goes by many names: the Bluespot Stingray, Blue-spotted Stingaree, Blue-spotted Stingray, and Kuhl's Stingray. But The Fins United Initiative will refer to Neotrygon australiae as the Australian Bluespotted Maskray. 

They are a red-brown to green color with a lighter underbelly. Their dorsal (top) side is smattered with blue and black spots, and they sport a dark 'mask' through their eyes that sort of resembles batman. These rays have a very long tail that sometimes has black and white bars on it; like other rays, they have venomous spines on their tail.

#Finfact: this species was previously known as Neotrygon kuhlii and Dasyatis kuhlii! This is because the Bluespotted Maskray was previously placed in the genus Dasyatis, until it was placed in the genus Neotrygon by Last & White (2008).

The Bluespotted Maskray is known from Australia (western and northern parts), off Daru (northern Torres Strait Islands), Papua New Guinea and Lombok, Indonesia. Here you can possibly see them in deeper water that has a sandy/muddy bottom, such as near coral reef. Why do we say “possibly see them”? Well, they often bury themselves in these soft substrates so well that you can only see their eyes and maybe tail! Talk about great camouflage!

Inhabits sandy bottoms in deeper water near rocky or coral reefs, moving into shallower water at high tide to forage over the reef flat and sandy-mud bottoms. Individuals often lie buried in sand with only their eyes and tail visible.
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TFUI could not find an IUCN profile for this species.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS ANIMAL?

GLOSSARY

• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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