Himantura australis, Australian whipray : fisheries

Himantura australis Last, White & Naylor, 2016

Australian whipray
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Myliobatiformes (Stingrays) > Dasyatidae (Stingrays) > Urogymninae
Etymology: Himantura: Greek, iman, imantos = thong, strap + Greek, oura = tail (Ref. 45335); australis: Named for the tropical Southern Hemisphere distribution of this species; noun in apposition.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; demersal; depth range ? - 45 m (Ref. 110363). Tropical; 5°S - 29°S, 111°E - 155°E (Ref. 114953)

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Western Central Pacific: confined to the Australasian Plate, from off Papua New Guinea and northern Australia, from Shark Bay (off Western Australia) to Brisbane (off Queensland) (Ref. 110363). Also Ref. 114953.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 140.0 cm WD (female)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

This species is distinguished by the following set of characters: the disc is weakly rhomboidal; preorbital snout is moderately short, its length 19-22% DW and rather broad, angle 117-127°, with a distinct apical lobe; lateral apices are narrowly rounded; the orbits moderately large, usually strongly protruding (particularly in young); 1-2, mostly heart-shaped suprascapular denticles which are not preceded before and after by a row of smaller primary denticles; secondary denticle band is developed before birth; dorsal surface of juveniles (smaller than 370 mm DW) are dark spotted or with spots and weak reticulations, subadults and adults (exceeding 390 mm DW) are more strongly reticulated; dorsal tail of juveniles has 3 rows of spots before caudal sting, faint dark saddles beyond sting (no alternating black and white bands on tail); tail uniformly dark ventrally; 146-152 pectoral-fin radials; 123 vertebral centra (excluding synarcual), 24 including synarcual 124 (Ref. 110363)
Body shape (shape guide): other (see remarks); Cross section: flattened.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Depth distribution is not well documented, but this species is primarily in shallow water from near the shore to at least 45 m depth (Ref. 110363). Enters estuaries and brackish water. Most serious injuries to humans come from stingray groups (Ref. 114953). The largest specimen (140 cm WD) is a pregnant female with 2 embryos (30 cm WD) (data not year published); the smallest confirmed adult male is 112 cm WD (Ref. 110363); born at ca. 29 cm WD. Produces litters up to 4 pups (Ref. 114953).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

Last, P.R., W.T. White and G. Naylor, 2016. Three new stingrays (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae) from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 4147(4):377-402. (Ref. 110363)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 09 February 2021

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 114953)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |