Himantura australis
| Himantura australis | |
|---|---|
| |
| A live specimen of Australia whipray in National Zoo & Aquarium, Canberra | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Myliobatiformes |
| Family: | Dasyatidae |
| Genus: | Himantura |
| Species: | H. australis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Himantura australis Last, White & Naylor, 2016
| |
Himantura australis, the Australian whipray, is a type of whiptail stingray found mainly in Australia and south of New Guinea island.[2][3][1] This species is a minor bycatch and usually released back to ocean by Australian trawlers, although it might be retained for human consumption by the New Guinean locals.[1]
Description
[edit]This species can be distinguished from several characteristics, such as weakly rhomboidal-shaped disc, short preorbital snout, narrowly rounded lateral apices, yellow-pale brown body color, white-colored underside, and fully covered in scattered dark brown speckles or reticulations.[2][3] The maximum size of the female specimen is 140 cm disc width.[2]
Habitat & distribution
[edit]This species distribution range encompasses Northern Territory, Western Australia, and Queensland in Australia, and both Indonesian Papua and the sovereign Papua New Guinea.[2][1] It inhabits the shallow habitats and ranges from the surface to a depth of around 45 m.[1] It is often accidentally caught by trawlers and fishers in Australian region, but it might be a target and used as delicacy by the locals of Papua New Guinea.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Rigby, C.L. & Derrick, D. (2021-02-09). "Himantura australis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2021-2.rlts.t116855925a116855930.en.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d Last, Peter R.; White, William T.; Naylor, Gavin (2016-08-05). "Three new stingrays (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae) from the Indo–West Pacific". Zootaxa. 4147 (4): 377–402. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4147.4.2. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 27515624.
- ^ a b Bray, D.J. (2020). "Himantura australis". Fishes of Australia. Retrieved 2025-02-21.