Rays Codexery

Pink whipray

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Pink whipray

Charles J. Sharp · via Wikipedia: Pink whipray · CC BY-SA 4.0

In a 1906 issue of the Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, David Starr Jordan and Alvin Seale, both American ichthyologists, formally described the pink whipray using a 37 cm wide specimen that had been obtained near Apia, Samoa.[1] This ray is also referred to by the common name Tahitian stingray.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. OrderMyliobatiformes
  6. FamilyDasyatidae
  7. GenusPateobatis
  8. SpeciesPateobatis fai

Named by D. S. Jordan & Seale, 1906

Close relatives

Other species of Pateobatis with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Pink whipray (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 1043416 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Vulnerable (VU)

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU▲ this species
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2024

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

How big is it?

Size comparison: Pink whipray and a personA 5 m long pink whipray drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.5 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 5 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Pink whipray

Where the pink whipray has been recorded

Where the pink whipray has been recorded136 mapped locations from 2,531 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: ApiaApia

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (2,531 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 22 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

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

When the tail remains whole, its length is at least double that of the disc, and it is described as being exceptionally long and slender.[2] The dorsal surface of this ray displays a uniform coloration ranging from grayish to brownish pink; this color transitions to dark gray or black on the tail section beyond the sting, while the underside is consistently pale.[2] This species can achieve a disc width of at least 1.8 meters and a total length exceeding 5 meters.[2] The heaviest individual ever documented weighed 19 kg.[2]

Although recorded at depths down to 200 meters, the pink whipray is most commonly encountered from the intertidal zone down to a depth of 70 meters.[3] The pink whipray reproduces via aplacental viviparity, a method where the mother provides nutrient-dense histotroph to her developing embryos through specialized uterine tissues, a trait shared with other stingrays.[4] Newborn individuals have a disc width ranging from 55 to 60 cm.[4] Sexual maturity in males is attained at a disc width of 1.1 to 1.2 meters; the size at which females mature has not been determined.[4]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species records the accepted name as Pateobatis fai (Jordan & Seale, 1906), family Dasyatidae, order Myliobatiformes, class Elasmobranchii.[5] GBIF holds 2,619 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[6] The Open Library edition record for ISBN 9789251043028 lists "The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific" as published by Food & Agriculture Org in August 2000, 2068 pages.[7] The Open Library edition record for ISBN 9781577855385 lists "Reef Sharks & Rays of the World" as published by Prostar Pubns in January 2005, 107 pages.[8]

The IUCN Shark Specialist Group publication "Shark News 13" from July 2001 notes that many species are increasingly threatened with overexploitation due to their life history traits and human activities.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Pink whipray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The fishes of Samoa: Description of the species found in the archipelago, with a provisional check-list of the fishes of Oceania", Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, December 15, 1906, p. 173–455; Churchill, W., "The Polynesian Wanderings: Tracks of the Migration Deduced From an Examination of the Proto-Samoan Content of Efaté and Other Languages of Melanesia", The Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1911, p. 218; Michael, S.W., "Reef Sharks and Rays of the World", ProStar Publications, 2005, p. 86; Manjaji, B.M. (2004). Taxonomy and ph en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Pink whipray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 443–444; "FAO identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific", Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1999, p. 1486; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Pink whipray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 443–444; ; "Spatiotemporal variability in a sandflat elasmobranch fauna in Shark Bay, Australia", Marine Biology, 2009, p. 2579–2590; Gaspar, C., "Pd.D. Thesis Summary: Study of feeding of the pink whiprays, in French Polynesia Himantura fai", Cybium, June 30, 2009, p. 186; McCoy, B. (2008). "Varying impact of human feeding on Pink Whiprays, Himantura fai, at two sites on Mo'orea". UC Berkeley: UCB Moorea Class: Biology and Geomorp (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Pink whipray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 443–444; "Spatiotemporal variability in a sandflat elasmobranch fauna in Shark Bay, Australia", Marine Biology, 2009, p. 2579–2590; "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 443–444; "A revision of Heterocotyle (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) with a description of Heterocotyle capricornensis n sp from Himantura fai (Dasyatididae) from Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia", International Journal for; "Descriptions of the larvae of six species of mo en.wikipedia.org
  5. World Register of Marine Species, Pateobatis fai (AphiaID 1043416). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  6. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Pateobatis fai (taxon key 9328654). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  7. Open Library record, ISBN 9789251043028 ("The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 9781577855385 ("Reef Sharks & Rays of the World"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. Anderson, C.; Waheed, A. (July 2001). "The economics of shark and ray watching in the Maldives". Shark News 13. The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group. Retrieved A. facts only, no text reused. flmnh.ufl.edu

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pink whipray (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)

Atlantic stingray Hypanus sabinus, Bennett's stingray Hemitrygon bennetti, Black-spotted whipray Maculabatis astra, Blackedge whipray Himantura marginata, Blackish stingray Hemitrygon navarrae, Blue stingray Dasyatis chrysonota

More in Rays

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Test yourself

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

1. To which genus does the pink whipray belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Pateobatis.

2. To which biological family does the pink whipray belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Dasyatidae.

3. What is the IUCN Red List category of the pink whipray?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Vulnerable.

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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