Giant stingaree

The giant stingaree (Plesiobatis daviesi) will be kicking off #StingareeSundays on The Fins United Initiative. Also known as the deepwater stingray, this large animal comes in quite a few colour combinations: from grey-black to brown to purple-brown, they are always with a black outer margin and have a white underbelly. Their pelvic fins and tail tend to be a pale grey colour, and the sting is also pale. 

A Giant Stingaree, Plesiobatis daviesi. Source: Ken Graham / NSW Fisheries.

#Finfact: The species name of the giant stingaree is daviesi to honor David H. Davies, a former director of the Ocean Research Institute in Durban, South Africa. They have been observed in the waters off of South Africa and Mozambique, southern India, the Philippines, Japan, and Australia. There are some reports of these animals in the Hawaiian Islands, too. This makes for a pretty patchy distribution!

Giant stingarees are found on the continental slope (observed at depths of 275-68 m deep), and they have quite a varied diet: small pelagic fish, eels, crustaceans, cephalopods, and polychaete worms. To our knowledge, the giant stingaree goes deeper than any other stingray species. A rather plain-looking stingray, they have a pointed snout, very small eyes, a short tail, and a pretty round-shaped disc that is covered with dermal denticles. The IUCN has assessed the giant stingaree as an animal of Least Concern (LC). 

ever heard of this stingaree?

glossary

• Cephalopods: The most intelligent, mobile, and largest of all molluscs. These include: squid, octopuses, cuttlefish, the chambered nautilus, and their relatives.
• Crustaceans: Group of animals with a hard exoskeleton, jointed legs and segmented body.
• Continental shelf: Extends from a continent underwater, resulting in a shallow-water area.
• Continental slope: The steep slope from a continental shelf to the ocean floor; usually around 20 km (12.4 miles) wide and made up of mud and silt substrate. It is an ideal area for deep sea fishing.
• Dermal denticles: Scales found in cartilaginous fishes: sharks, skates, rays, chimaeras.
• Disc length (DL): A standard measurement of stingray; disc is slightly longer than it is wide.
  
• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.
• Polychaete worms: Multi-segmented worms living in all environments in the world's oceans.

say hello!

you may also like:

WHITESPOTTED WEDGEFISH

GULF ANGEL SHARK

GALBRAITH'S CATSHARK