Pale-edged stingray (Telatrygon zugei)

Classification (WoRMS)

Full classification as recorded by WoRMS: Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Elasmobranchii · Order: Myliobatiformes · Family: Dasyatidae · Genus: Telatrygon.

Accepted name: Telatrygon zugei · Authority: (Müller & Henle, 1841) · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 1013687.

Synonyms and superseded combinations recorded for this taxon: Amphotistius zugei (Müller & Henle, 1841); Dasyatis cheni Teng, 1962; Dasyatis zugei (Müller & Henle, 1841); Trygon zugei Müller & Henle, 1841.

Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1013687 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Biology and life history (FishBase)

Measured values published by FishBase for Telatrygon zugei. Only fields the database actually holds for this species are shown; these are database values, not aquarium guidance.

Maximum length: 29 cm · Habitat zone: demersal · Body shape: other · Vulnerability index: 90 of 100 · Fishery importance: minor commercial · Aquarium trade: never/rarely.

FishBase notes: Feed on bottom-dwelling organisms (Ref.50449); primarily small crustaceans, but also small fishes (Ref.58048). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449).

Source: FishBase species summary (SpecCode 8205) — https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Telatrygon-zugei.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Distribution and occurrence records (GBIF)

282 georeferenced occurrence records for Telatrygon zugei are published through GBIF from 14 countries or marine areas. The map above plots 50 distinct locations from a sample of 282 records, omitting 21 inland records that carry an institution's coordinates rather than a collection site; it shows where the species has been observed and reported, not a modelled range.

Most records by country or area: Australia (146); Malaysia (34); Chinese Taipei (28); China (22); India (16); Hong Kong (9); Thailand (7); Viet Nam (5); Bangladesh (3); Indonesia (3); Sri Lanka (3); Brazil (2); Japan (2); Myanmar (2).

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 9601413) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=9601413&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1013687 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Conservation status (IUCN Red List)

The IUCN Red List assesses Telatrygon zugei (Müller & Henle, 1841) as Vulnerable (code VU). No trend, population estimate or threat analysis is given here, because none is available from this source without the Red List API; follow the source link for the full assessment, including its date.

Source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (taxon 104085094) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/104085094/0; GBIF IUCN Red List category endpoint (taxonKey 9601413) — https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/9601413/iucnRedListCategory. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Description and natural history (Wikipedia)

The diet of the pale-edged stingray consists mainly of small crustaceans and fishes. Reproduction is aplacental viviparous, with females bearing litters of 1–3 young. Caught as bycatch and utilized for its meat, this species is threatened by heavy fishing pressure throughout its range and has been assessed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

German biologists Johannes Müller and Friedrich Henle originally described the pale-edged stingray from seven syntypes, in their 1841 Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. They named it Trygon zugei after zugu-ei, the Japanese name for this species. The genus Trygon was synonymized with Dasyatis by subsequent authors. Several early accounts of D. zugei were confounded by specimens of D. acutirostra; in 1988 Nishida and Nakaya published a study that resolved the differences between these two species and designated a new lectotype for D. zugei.

Lisa Rosenberger's 2001 phylogenetic analysis, based on morphological characters, found that the pale-edged stingray is sister to a clade containing the whitespotted whipray (Maculabatis gerrardi), the pearl stingray (Fontitrygon margaritella), and the smooth butterfly ray (Gymnura micrura). These results support the growing consensus that neither Dasyatis nor Himantura are monophyletic.

The range of the pale-edged stingray extends from the Indian subcontinent eastward to Java and Borneo, and northward to the Philippines and southern Japan. This species inhabits the inner continental shelf, favoring sandy flats in water under 100 m deep, and also frequently enters estuaries.

The pale-edged stingray has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc slightly longer than wide, with concave anterior margins merging into an elongated, triangular snout; the head comprises more than half of the disc length. The eyes are small, with a pair of much larger spiracles immediately behind. There is a nearly rectangular curtain of skin between the nares, with a fringed rear margin. The mouth is gently curved, without papillae on the floor. There are 40–55 tooth rows in either jaw, arranged with a quincunx pattern into pavement-like surfaces. The teeth of adult males have pointed cusps while those of juveniles and females are blunt.

The pelvic fins are triangular. The tail is whip-like, much longer than the disc, and bears a stinging spine. A low dorsal fin fold originates just posterior of the spine tip while a deeper ventral fin fold originates below the spine base. Young individuals have smooth skin, while adults have a row of 5–9 small tubercles in front of the spine. The dorsal surface is a uniform chocolate brown, darkening on the tail fin folds, while the underside is white with a brown band around the margin of the disc. This species reaches a length of 75 cm and width of 29 cm, though most do not exceed 18 - 24 cm in width. The pale-edged stingray differs from the similar but larger D. acutirostra in having smaller eyes and an upper tail fin fold, as well as in several meristic counts such as the number of intestinal valves.

The pale-edged stingray feeds mainly on bottom-dwelling crustaceans, in particular prawns, but also takes small fishes. Parasites that have been identified from this species include the tapeworms Acanthobothrium zugeinensis, Balanobothrium yamagutii, Pithophorus zugeii, Polypocephalus ratnagiriensis and P. visakhapatnamensis, Rhinebothrium xiamenensis, Shindeiobothrium karbharae, Tetragonocephalum raoi, Tylocephalum singhii, and Uncibilocularis indiana and U. veravalensis, and the capsalid monogenean Trimusculotrema schwartzi. Like other stingrays, the pale-edged stingray is aplacental viviparous, with the young sustained initially by yolk and later histotroph ("uterine milk") secreted by the mother. Females give birth to 1–3 young at a time; there is no defined reproductive seasonality, at least in Indonesian waters. Newborns measure 8 - 10 cm across. Males mature sexually at a disc width of 18 cm and females at a disc width of 19 cm.

Large numbers of pale-edged stingrays are caught incidentally in bottom trawls and trammel nets, particularly in the Gulf of Thailand, the Java Sea, and off the Indian coast. Most individuals landed are retained for human consumption, although the small size of this species limits its economic significance. The IUCN has assessed the pale-edged stingray as near threatened and notes that it is vulnerable. Across most of its range, this species experiences heavy and increasing fishing pressure, with all size classes susceptible to capture.

Source: Wikipedia: Pale-edged stingray — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale-edged_stingray (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.