Urolophus

Urolophus is a genus of round rays. Most species live in the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, but one species is found in the Pacific waters off the coast of Mexico. The genus was first described by Müller and Henle in an 1837 issue of Bericht Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. The name comes from the Greek words oura (tail) and lophos (crest).

In this genus, the outer edges of the nostrils do not form enlarged lobes, though they may have a small knob at the rear. A fossil species once placed here, Urolophus crassicaudatus, was discovered in Monte Bolca, northern Italy, in deposits from the late Ypresian stage of the Eocene epoch (about 49 million years ago). However, Marramà et al. (2020) moved that species to the genus Arechia. There are currently 21 recognized species in the genus, including the Sepia stingray, Sandyback stingaree, Circular stingaree, Crossback stingaree, Chesterfield Island stingaree, Wide stingaree, Patchwork stingaree, Spotted stingaree, Java stingaree (extinct), Kai stingaree, Kapala stingaree, Lobed stingaree, Mitotic stingaree, New Caledonian stingaree, Coastal stingaree, Butterfly stingaree, Sparsely-spotted stingaree, Coral Sea stingaree, Yellowback stingaree, Greenback stingaree, and Brown stingaree.