The southern eagle ray (Myliobatis tenuicaudatus) is a light olive-green coloured ray, adorned with blue spots and bars along its wings. Its underbelly is a pale colour, though sometimes it is grey instead. Their skin is uniformly smooth and lacks any rough denticles or thorns. And like many rays, they have a whip-like tail. Born at around 20-30 cm in length, they reach up to 160 cm disc length (300+ cm TL). Males mature at about 65 cm in length, while females mature at 80 cm disc width. These rays are commonly found near beaches, shoals and over sandflats in shallow water off temperate southern Australia (Western AU to Queensland) including Tasmania and New Zealand. You can see these animals from inshore down to 130 m deep. Their diet includes molluscs, annelid worms and teleost fish. Reproduction history, however, is unknown besides them being viviparous. Until recently, the southern eagle ray was called Myliobatis australis in Australia (a junior synonym of M. tenuicaudatus). The IUCN has assessed these animals as Least Concern (LC). have you seen these animals?glossary
you may also like:Comments are closed.
|
AuthorTFUI Founder Melissa C. Marquez is author of all animal bios and "Behind the Fins" segments. SEE MELISSA'S TEDx TALK HERE:
Archives
August 2020
SEARCH BY CATEGORIESREADER FAVORITESFOLLOW ALONG ON INSTAGRAM |