Bluespotted ribbontail ray

Lore & Background

The bluespotted ribbontail ray was originally described as Raja lymma by Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskål in 1775. The specific epithet lymma means 'dirt'. In 1837, German biologists Johannes Peter Müller and Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle created the genus Taeniura for Trygon ornatus, now known to be a junior synonym of this species. Morphological examination has suggested that this ray is more closely related to the amphi-American Himantura and the river stingrays than to the congeneric blotched fantail ray.

This ray has a mostly smooth, oval pectoral fin disc, large protruding eyes, and a relatively short and thick tail with a deep fin fold underneath. The dorsal coloration consists of numerous circular, neon blue spots on a yellowish brown or green skin; the tail has two stripes of the same blue. At night, small groups follow the rising tide onto sandy flats to root for small benthic invertebrates and bony fishes.

When the tide recedes, they withdraw to shelters on the reef. Known predators include hammerhead sharks and bottlenose dolphins. When threatened, this ray tends to flee at high speed in a zigzag pattern. It is capable of injuring humans with its venomous tail spines, though it prefers to flee if threatened.