Jenkins' whipray

Lore & Background

The first known specimens of the Jenkins' whipray were two 1.0 m wide adult males collected near Ganjam, India by the steamer Golden Crown, and described by Scottish zoologist Nelson Annandale in a 1909 issue of Memoirs of the Indian Museum. He named the species Trygon jenkinsii in honor of Dr. J. Travis Jenkins, the Scientific Advisor on Fisheries to the Government of Bengal, who assisted the Golden Crown expedition. Other common names include brown stingray, golden whip ray, pointed-nose stingray, rough-back stingray, and sharpnose stingray. The Jenkins' whipray is easily confused with the pink whipray (H. fai) and has likely been misrepresented as that species. In 2004, Mabel Manjaji grouped it with several other species in the 'uarnak' species complex. The dragon stingray (H. draco), described from South Africa in 1984, closely resembles the Jenkins' whipray but has dark spots along the posterior margin of the disc; similarly spotted rays have since been documented from the Arafura Sea, Sulu Sea, Sumatra, and western Sri Lanka, leading taxonomists to tentatively re-classify H. draco as a color morph of H. jenkinsii. Its pectoral fin disc is diamond-shaped and rather thick in the center, measuring 1.1–1.2 times wider than long. The upper surface bears a broad central band of closely spaced, flattened heart-shaped dermal denticles, and one or more rows of large, spear-like thorns run along the dorsal midline. Barring the possible spotted variant, it is uniform yellowish brown above, white below, with the tail gray past the sting.

Reader's Guide

The Jenkins' whipray is regularly caught by coastal fisheries across much of its range, particularly in the Arafura Sea. Its skin is highly valued for the large thorns, while the meat and cartilage may also be marketed. It is frequently taken intentionally and incidentally using tangle nets, bottom trawls, seine nets, and to a lesser extent longlines. Particularly large numbers are caught by an Indonesian commercial gillnet fishery targeting wedgefishes, which operates in the Arafura Sea and increasingly, illegally, in Australian waters. Although species-specific data is lacking, this fishery has caused a substantial decline in overall stingray populations.

Off northern Australia, the Jenkins' whipray is relatively protected; it is thought to contribute minimally to the bycatch of the Northern Prawn Fishery since the mandatory introduction of Turtle Excluder Devices. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the Jenkins' whipray under Vulnerable globally, noting that it faces minimal conservation threats off northern Australia, which encompasses a large portion of its range. However, intense fishing pressure in Southeast Asia has led to significant population declines there. The species' wide but patchy distribution and its preference for inshore sandy or silty habitats make it vulnerable to coastal fishing activities.

Did You Know?

• The Jenkins' whipray can grow up to 1.5 m across and 3.0 m long.
• Its skin is highly prized for the large spear-like thorns along the midline.
• The species was first described from two adult males collected near Ganjam, India by the steamer Golden Crown.
• The dragon stingray (H. draco) is tentatively considered a spotted color morph of the Jenkins' whipray.