Leopard Whipray, Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2008

Other Names: Leopard Stingray

A Leopard Whipray, Himantura leoparda, at Innisfail, Queensland, November 2013. Source: Kenneth Foster / Atlas of Living Australia. License: CC BY Attribution

Summary:

In Australia, the Leopard Whipray has been long been confused with both Himantura uarnak and H. undulata, species which are not known from Australian waters.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Himantura leoparda in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2670

Leopard Whipray, Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2008

More Info

Distribution	Coral Bay, Western Australia, to North Channel, E of Cape York Peninsula, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the Indo-west Pacific, from South Africa to Papua New Guinea, and north to southern Japan. Inhabits inshore and coastal sandy and muddy areas, and also on the continental continental shelf at depths to 70 m.
Remarks	The Leopard Whipray has been misidentified as Himantura undulata, a species not found in Australia.
Similar Species	The similar Australian Whipray, Himantura australis, differs in having smaller, more closely spaced dark spots in juveniles (vs. larger and more widely-spaced spots in the Leopard Whipray), a pattern of speckles or reticulations in larger specimens (vs. a pattern of dark rings), and a less pointed snout tip (vs. snout tip pointed).
Etymology	The species is named leoparda in reference to the pattern of leopard-like spots on the upper surface of this species.
Species Citation	Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 200, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper No. 022: 294. Type locality: north-west of Weipa, Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, 12°08'S, 139°58'E, depth 46 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Leopard Whipray, Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last 2008

References

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

Last, P.R. & Compagno, L.J.V. 1999. Family Dasyatidae. pp. 1479-1505 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 3 pp. 1397-2068.

Last, P.R., Naylor, G.J.P. & Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M. 2016. A revised classification of the family Dasyatidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) based on new morphological and molecular insights. Zootaxa 4139(3): 345-368 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4139.3.2

Last, P.R., Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M., Naylor, G.J.P. & White, W.T. 2016. Dasyatidae. pp. 522-618 in Last, P.R., White, W.T., Carvalho, M.R. de, Séret, B., Stehmann, M.F.W. & Naylor, G.J.P. (eds.) Rays of the World. Clayton South, Victoria : CSIRO Publishing 790 pp.

Last, P.R., Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M. & Pogonoski, J.J. 2008. Himantura astra sp. nov., a new whipray (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) from northern Australia. pp. 303-314 in Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (eds). Descriptions of new Australian chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper No. 022: 1-358

Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Canberra : CSIRO Australia 513 pp. 84 pls.

Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 2009. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Australia 2, 550 pp.

Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Naylor, G. 2016. Three new stingrays (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae) from the Indo–West Pacific. Zootaxa 4147(4): 377–402 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4147.4.2

Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M. & Last, P.R. 2008. Himantura leoparda sp. nov., a new whipray (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) from the Indo-Pacific. pp. 293-302 in Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (eds). Descriptions of new Australian chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper No. 022: 1-358

O'Shea, O.R., Thums, M., van Keulen, M., Kempster, R.M. & Meekan, M.G. 2013. Dietary partitioning by five sympatric species of stingray (Dasyatidae) on coral reefs. Journal of Fish Biology 82: 1805-1820. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.12104

Rigby, C., Moore, A. & Rowat, D. 2016. Himantura leoparda. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T195456A68628645. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T195456A68628645.en. Downloaded on 05 October 2020.

Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls. (as Himantura sp. 1)

Semeniuk, C.A.D. & Dill, L.M. 2006. Anti-predator benefits of mixed-species groups of cowtail stingrays (Pastinachus sephen) and whiprays (Himantura uarnak) at rest. Ethology 112: 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01108.x

White, W.T., Baje, L., Sabub, B., Appleyard, S.A., Pogonoski, J.J. & Mana, R.R. 2017. Sharks and Rays of Papua New Guinea. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Monograph Series 189: 1-327