Rays Codexery

Short-tail stingray

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Short-tail stingray

Alpha from Melbourne, Australia · via Wikipedia: Short-tail stingray · CC BY-SA 2.0

The species is found off southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. OrderMyliobatiformes
  6. FamilyDasyatidae
  7. GenusBathytoshia
  8. SpeciesBathytoshia brevicaudata

Named by (F. W. Hutton, 1875)

Close relatives

Other species of Bathytoshia with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Short-tail stingray (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 316573 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2021

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Short-tail stingray and a personA 4.3 m long short-tail stingray drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.4.3 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 4.3 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Short-tail stingray

Where the short-tail stingray has been recorded

Where the short-tail stingray has been recorded56 mapped locations from 26,751 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Poor Knights IslandsPoor Knights Islands

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (26,751 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 68 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 1 isolated far-off record not drawn.

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

The Fishes of Australia account notes it inhabits silty or sandy areas in harbours, bays, and coastal reefs.[2] The Fishes of Australia account describes the upper surface as uniformly greyish brown, darkest on the tail tip and above the eye.[2] The lateral line system detects water jets from buried prey, which are extracted by suction.[3] Off South Africa, it patrols egg beds of chokka squid during mass spawnings.[3]

The species forms large seasonal aggregations, such as at the Poor Knights Islands from January to April.[4] This ray is primarily benthic and occupies diverse settings including estuaries, reefs, and open water.[1] The tail is thick at the base and usually shorter than the disc, and it carries large tubercles along with a midline row of large thorns positioned in front of the stinging spine.[1] The upper side is grayish brown, with a line of white pores located on each side of the head.[5]

What the specialist sources record

The Fishes of Australia account states the species is aplacental viviparous, with litters of 6-10 young born at about 36 cm disc width.[2] A Scienceline article reports the short-tail stingray can grow up to 14 feet long and weigh over 750 pounds.[6] The same article notes the species possesses two tail spines: a slender spike in front of a jagged bayonet.[6] The Fishes of Australia account warns the species is potentially very dangerous to humans due to its large size.[2]

A Scienceline article states fatal stingray attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, with only one or two fatal attacks reported each year worldwide.[6] The GBIF database holds 26,820 occurrence records for this taxon.[7] The World Register of Marine Species lists the species as accepted under the name Bathytoshia brevicaudata.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Short-tail stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dianne J. Bray, 2011, Smooth Stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 26 Aug 2014, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Dianne J. Bray, 2011, Smooth Stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 26 Aug 2014, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2020. facts only, no text reused. fishesofaustralia.net.au
  3. Wikipedia, "Short-tail stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Detection of Weak Water Jets by the Short-Tailed Stingray Dasyatis brevicaudata (Pisces: Dasyatidae)", Copeia, December 9, 1997, p. 881–883; Le Port, A., "Observations of mesoscale movements in the short-tailed stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata from New Zealand using a novel PSAT tag attachment method", Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, May 9,; Smale, M., "Behavioural interactions of predators and spawning chokka squid off South Africa: towards quantification", Marine Biology, 2001, p. 1095–1105; Bester, C., "Florid en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Short-tail stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Anthoni, J.F., "Poor Knights marine reserve: The mystery of the social sting rays", Sea Friends (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Short-tail stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Last, P.R., "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 434–435; Garrick, J.A.F., "Studies on New Zealand Elasmobranchii. Part II. A Description of Dasyatis brevicaudatus (Hutton), Batoidei, with a review of records of the species outside New Zealand", Transactions of the Royal Societ; Talent, L.G., "Albinism in embryo gray smoothhound sharks, Mustelus californicus, from Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, California", Copeia, 1973, p. 595–597 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Hadhazy, "I thought stingrays were harmless, so how did one manage to kill the "Crocodile Hunter?"", Scienceline, 2006-09-11. facts only, no text reused. scienceline.org
  7. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Bathytoshia brevicaudata (taxon key 2419488). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  8. World Register of Marine Species, Bathytoshia brevicaudata (AphiaID 316573). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Short-tail stingray (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Dasyatidae)

Pink whipray Pateobatis fai, Pitted stingray Dasyatis matsubarai, Atlantic stingray Hypanus sabinus, Black-spotted whipray Maculabatis astra

Named in this entry

Embryo

More in Rays

Southern stingrayThorntail stingrayMarbled whiprayRoughback whiprayWhite-edge freshwater whiprayColares stingrayDaisy stingrayNiger stingrayPearl stingrayPincushion raySharpsnout stingrayBennett's stingray

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. To which biological family does the short-tail stingray belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Dasyatidae.

2. What is the IUCN Red List category of the short-tail stingray?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Least Concern.

3. To which genus does the short-tail stingray belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Bathytoshia.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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