Rays Codexery

Plain maskray

Last updated

Plain maskray

CSIRO National Fish Collection · via Wikipedia: Plain maskray · CC BY 3.0 au

The plain maskray is a marine ray species in the family Dasyatidae, order Myliobatiformes.[1] The species is assessed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.[2] The maximum recorded dimensions for this species are a disc width of 24 cm and a total length of 45 cm.[3]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. OrderMyliobatiformes
  6. FamilyDasyatidae
  7. GenusNeotrygon
  8. SpeciesNeotrygon annotata

Named by (Last, 1987)

Close relatives

Other species of Neotrygon with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Plain maskray (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 398329 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Near Threatened (NT)

  1. LC
  2. NT▲ this species
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2025

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

How big is it?

Size comparison: Plain maskray and a personA 0.45 m long plain maskray drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.45 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.45 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

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

Where the plain maskray has been recorded

Where the plain maskray has been recorded64 mapped locations from 296 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (296 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 3 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Last updated 2026-10-09 from the source article.

Biology and range

This species has been recorded at depths between 12 and 62 m.[2] This ray lives on the seafloor and is most common in areas with fine sediment.[2] Rather than burrowing into the substrate, it typically forages on top of the bottom sediment.[4] Caridean shrimp and polychaete worms make up the majority of its food intake.[4]

Embryos develop inside the mother and are nourished by histotroph, a characteristic of viviparous stingrays.[5] A female gives birth to one or two pups, each with a disc width of 12 to 14 cm at birth.[5]

What the specialist sources record

Peter Last, a researcher from the CSIRO, provided the first scientific description of this ray in a 1987 publication of Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria.[6] The Latin roots an ("not") and notatus ("marked") combine to form the specific name annotatus, which describes the ray's color pattern.[6] A male specimen measuring 21.2 cm across, collected off Western Australia, serves as the holotype.[6] The lineage leading to N. annotata is thought to have diverged around 54 million years ago.[7]

Genetic analysis of the specimens in that study revealed two distinct clades, indicating that N. annotata may actually be a complex of multiple cryptic species.[7]

References

  1. World Register of Marine Species, Neotrygon annotata (AphiaID 398329). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Plain maskray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jacobsen, I.P., "Neotrygon annotata", 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Plain maskray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sharks and Rays of Australia", Harvard University Press, 2009, p. 450–451; Last, PR, "New Australian fishes. Part 14. Two new species of Dasyatis (Dasyatididae)", Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, 1987, p. 57–61 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Plain maskray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Feeding ecology and dietary comparisons among three sympatric Neotrygon (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) species", Journal of Fish Biology, 2012, p. 1580–1594; "The genus Acanthobothrium (Cestoda: Tetraphyllidea: Onchobothriidae) parasitic in Australian elasmobranch fishes", Invertebrate Systematics, 2002, p. 237–344 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Plain maskray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Age and growth of Neotrygon picta, Neotrygon annotata and Neotrygon kuhlii from north-east Australia, with notes on their reproductive biology", Journal of Fish Biology, 2010, p. 2405–2422 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Plain maskray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Last, PR, "New Australian fishes. Part 14. Two new species of Dasyatis (Dasyatididae)", Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, 1987, p. 57–61; "Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans", Csiro Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper, 2008, p. 315–325 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Plain maskray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Phylogeography of the Indo-West Pacific maskrays (Dasyatidae, Neotrygon): a complex example of chondrichthyan radiation in the Cenozoic", Ecology and Evolution, 2012, p. 217–232 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

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

Named in this entry

Maskray

More in Rays

Cowtail stingrayRoughnose stingrayHortle's whiprayJenkins' whiprayPink whiprayWhitenose whiprayBluespotted ribbontail rayTaeniura lessoniRound fantail stingrayRound ribbontail rayTelatrygon biasaFreshwater whipray

Test yourself

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

1. To which biological family does the plain maskray belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Dasyatidae.

2. What is the IUCN Red List category of the plain maskray?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Near Threatened.

3. In what year was the plain maskray first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1987.

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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