Pelagic stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea)

Classification (WoRMS)

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

Accepted name: Pteroplatytrygon violacea · Authority: (Bonaparte, 1832) · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 158540.

Synonyms and superseded combinations recorded for this taxon: Dasyatis atratus Ishiyama & Okada, 1955; Dasyatis guileri Last, 1979; Dasyatis purpurea (Müller & Henle, 1841); Dasyatis purpureus (Müller & Henle, 1841); Dasyatis violacea (Bonaparte, 1832); Trygon purpurea Müller & Henle, 1841; Trygon violacea Bonaparte, 1832.

Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158540 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Biology and life history (FishBase)

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

Maximum length: 96 cm · Common length: 80 cm · Depth range: 1–381 m · Habitat zone: pelagic-oceanic · Body shape: other · Vulnerability index: 62.7 of 100 · Fishery importance: commercial · Aquarium trade: never/rarely.

FishBase notes: Found in open, tropical and warm temperate waters usually in the first 100 m. Possibly the only totally pelagic member of the family (Ref. 6871). Feeds on coelenterates (including medusae), squid, decapod crustaceans, and fish. Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449).

Venomous spine on tail. Common catch of the pelagic tuna (and shark) longline and gillnet fisheries (drift, Ref. 75025) operating throughout the region (Ref. 58048); also by purse-seine and bottom trawls (Ref. 75025). Utilized for its meat and sometimes cartilage (Ref.58048). Total length 110 TL (80 cm WD) (Ref. 9254).

Source: FishBase species summary (SpecCode 2576) — https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Pteroplatytrygon-violacea.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Distribution and occurrence records (GBIF)

6,728 georeferenced occurrence records for Pteroplatytrygon violacea are published through GBIF from 50 countries or marine areas. The map above plots 182 distinct locations from a sample of 3,000 records, omitting 69 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: United States of America (2,588); Italy (2,256); Chile (667); France (212); United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (162).

The full country table, WoRMS marine regions and the sampling notes are on this species' Distribution page.

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2419426) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2419426&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158540 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Conservation status (IUCN Red List)

The IUCN Red List assesses Pteroplatytrygon violacea (Bonaparte, 1832) as Least Concern (code LC). 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 161731) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/161731/0; GBIF IUCN Red List category endpoint (taxonKey 2419426) — https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/2419426/iucnRedListCategory. Accessed 2026-09-25.

Description and natural history (Wikipedia)

The diet of the pelagic stingray consists of free-swimming invertebrates and bony fishes. It is an active hunter, using its pectoral fins to trap and move food to its mouth, and has been known to take advantage of seasonal feeding opportunities such as spawning squid. Like other stingrays, it is aplacental viviparous, meaning that the embryos are sustained initially by yolk and later by histotroph ("uterine milk"). With a short gestation period of 2–4 months, females may bear two litters of 4–13 pups per year.

Human interactions

Birthing generally occurs in warm water near the equator, with the exception of the Mediterranean, with the timing varying between regions. Rarely encountered except by fishery workers, the pelagic stingray can inflict a severe, even fatal wound with its tail spine. This species is caught as bycatch throughout its range; it is of little economic value and usually discarded, often with high mortality. However, there is evidence that its numbers are increasing, perhaps owing to the heavy fishing of its natural predators and competitors (e.g., sharks).

Along with the pelagic stingray's global distribution and prolific life history, this has led the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to assess it as of Least Concern.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

The pelagic stingray was originally described by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in the 1832 third volume of Iconografia della fauna italica per le quattro classi degli animali vertebrati. He named it Trygon violacea, from the Latin viola ("purple"), and designated two specimens collected off Italy as the species syntypes.

The genus Trygon has since been synonymized with Dasyatis. In 1910, American zoologist Henry Weed Fowler placed the pelagic stingray in the newly created subgenus Pteroplatytrygon, from the Greek pteron ("fin"), platus ("broad"), and trygon ("stingray"). Later authors elevated Pteroplatytrygon to the rank of full genus, though some taxonomists dispute whether this species is distinct enough to warrant separation from Dasyatis.

Lisa Rosenberger's 2001 phylogenetic analysis, based on morphology, found that the pelagic stingray is one of the more basal members of its family, being the sister taxon to a clade that contains Pastinachus, Dasyatis, and Indo-Pacific Himantura species. Other common names for the pelagic stingray include the blue stingray and the violet stingray.

Distribution and habitat

The distribution of the pelagic stingray extends nearly worldwide in tropical to warm-temperate pelagic waters, between the latitudes of 52°N and 50°S. In the western Atlantic, it has been reported from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland to North Carolina, the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the Lesser Antilles, Brazil and Uruguay. In the eastern Atlantic, this species has been recorded from the North Sea to Madeira, including the Mediterranean, as well as around Cape Verde, in the Gulf of Guinea and off South Africa. In the Pacific, it is known from Japan to Australia and New Zealand in the west, British Columbia to Chile in the east, and around many oceanic islands including Hawaii, the Galápagos, and Easter Island. There have been no reports of this species from much of the Indian Ocean, but it is known to be common in the southwestern portion and around Indonesia.

Unique amongst stingrays in inhabiting the open ocean rather than the sea floor, the pelagic stingray is generally found from the surface to a depth of 100 m over deep water. It has also been caught at a depth of 330 - 381 m over the Kyushu–Palau Ridge, indicating that it at least occasionally approaches the bottom. This species prefers water temperatures above 19 C, and will die if the temperature drops to 15 C.

The pelagic stingray performs seasonal migrations following warm water masses. In the northwestern Atlantic, it is found in or near the Gulf Stream from December to April, and moves north of the Stream to gather near the continental shelf from July to September. A similar migration seems to occur in the Mediterranean, though the specifics are unknown.

In the Pacific, this species apparently spends the winter in oceanic waters near the equator and move into higher latitudes and towards the coast in spring. Two Pacific populations are known: one migrates from near Central America to California, and the other from the central Pacific to as far as Japan and British Columbia. Off southeastern Brazil, pelagic stingrays are displaced towards the coast by upwellings of cold water in late spring and summer; in some years they may even be pushed into inshore waters less than 45 m deep.

Description

The pelagic stingray has a very thick, distinctively wedge-shaped pectoral fin disc one-third wider than long, with broadly curved leading margins, rather angular outer corners, and nearly straight trailing margins. The snout is short with a rounded tip. The eyes are minute and, unlike in other stingrays, do not protrude above the body; the spiracles (paired respiratory openings) follow immediate behind. There is a short but broad curtain of skin between the nostrils, with a weakly fringed rear margin.

The mouth is small and gently arched, with deep furrows at the corners and a tiny projection at the center of the upper jaw that fits into an indentation on the lower jaw. There are anywhere from 0 to 15 forked papillae (nipple-like structures) in a row across the floor of the mouth. There are 25–34 upper tooth rows and 25–31 lower tooth rows; the teeth of both sexes have single, pointed cusps, but those of adult males are longer and sharper than those of adult females. The margins of the pelvic fins are nearly straight in front and become rounded at the tips and in back.

The whip-like tail measures up to twice as long as the disc; it is thick at the base and tapers significantly to the extremely long, serrated spine placed approximately one-third to halfway along its length. Two spines may be present if a replacement grows in before the original drops off. Posterior to the spine origin, there is a low ventral fin fold that does not reach to the spine tip. Young rays are completely smooth-skinned; with age small prickles appear over the center of the back, as well as a row of small thorns along the midline from between the eyes to the origin of the spine.

This species is a plain dark purple to blue-green above, extending onto the tail fold, and a slightly lighter shade below. When captured and handled, it exudes a thick black mucus that covers its body. The pelagic stingray typically grows to 1.3 m long and 59 cm across. The largest individuals on record are from a captive rearing experiment conducted from 1995 to 2000, in which a male reached 68 cm across and 12 kg, and a female 94 cm across and 49 kg.

In adopting a midwater lifestyle, the pelagic stingray exhibits several characteristics different from those of its bottom-dwelling relatives. While most stingrays propel themselves by undulating their disc margins, this species swims by oscillating (flapping) its pectoral fins in a manner approaching the "underwater flying" employed by eagle rays. Oscillatory fin motions generate lift, thus improving cruising efficiency in open water at a cost to maneuverability. The pelagic stingray is adept at swimming backwards, which may compensate for the lower fine control offered by its swimming mode.

Vision seems to be more important to the pelagic ray in finding food than in other stingrays.

Source: Wikipedia: Pelagic stingray — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagic_stingray (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-25.