Porcupine ray

Lore & Background

German naturalists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Schneider described the porcupine ray in their 1801 work Systema Ichthyologiae, based on a partial dried skin from Mumbai, India. They placed it in the genus Raja and named it asperrima, meaning 'roughest' in Latin. In the same work, they also described a West African form, Raja africana. Later authors have regarded the two as synonymous, but since the names were published simultaneously, uncertainty exists about which has priority. In 1837, Johannes Peter Müller and Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle placed the ray in a new genus, Gymnura, but as that name was already in use, they replaced it with Urogymnus, derived from Ancient Greek for 'tail' and 'naked', referring to the lack of a tail sting. Urogymnus was traditionally considered monotypic, but several other species were moved to this genus from Himantura in 2016 based on morphology and molecular evidence.

Reader's Guide

The porcupine ray has long been valued for its rough and durable skin, which was made into shagreen leather used for utilitarian and ornamental purposes, such as covering sword hilts and shields. The Japanese deemed it the only species whose skin was acceptable for covering sword grips, and the Malayans used it to cover shields. The Chinese dyed the skin and ground down the thorns to yield a mottled pattern. The native inhabitants of Funafuti Atoll used dried portions of the tail as a rasp-like tool. Presently, the ray is caught incidentally in trawls, tangle nets, and beach seines. Its skin continues to be highly valued, while the meat and cartilage may also be used. In the Farasan Islands and some other places in the Red Sea, its liver is eaten as a seasonal dish. However, its economic importance is limited by how difficult it is to handle due to its thorns. Unregulated fishing has led to its dramatic decline or local extinction in the Bay of Bengal, the Gulf of Thailand, and likely elsewhere, and it has been listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Did You Know?

• The porcupine ray is the only stingray in its family that lacks a venomous stinging spine.
• Its specific epithet asperrimus means 'roughest' in Latin.
• The ray's skin was used by the Japanese as the only acceptable material for covering sword grips.
• Mangrove forests serve as important habitat for juvenile porcupine rays.