The Blotched Fantail Ray, Taeniura meyeni, is a gorgeous specimen found in the Indo-west and central Pacific Oceans (especially on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia). Also called the black-blotched stingray, bull ray, blackspotted stingray, giant reef ray and round ribbontail ray, they can grow to about 3.3 metres in total length (TL) and 1.8 m in disc width (DW). #Finfact: athough they are not aggressive, they have been responsible for at least one human fatality. They have a circular-ish disc that has a mottled black/white pattern o their smooth skin (no thorns!). These benthic animals can be found in inshore and coral reef waters usually on soft bottoms, like sand! A nocturnal animal, they are active predators of small benthic molluscs, crustaceans, and bony fishes. They are viviparous via placenta, where their young are sustained by yolk and then histotroph ("uterine milk"); momma blotched fantail rays can have up to seven pups. The IUCN has assessed them as Vulnerable (VU) due to a decline in population size due to commercial fishing (targeted and bycatch) and habitat destruction. EVER HEARD OF THIS SKATE?GLOSSARY
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AuthorTFUI Founder Melissa C. Marquez is author of all animal bios and "Behind the Fins" segments. SEE MELISSA'S TEDx TALK HERE:
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