Bluespotted Maskray, Neotrygon australiae Last, White & Séret 2016
A Bluespotted Maskray, Neotrygon australiae, at Fly Point, Port Stephens, New South Wales . Source: Dave Harasti / http://www.daveharasti.com/. License: All rights reserved
A reddish brown to greenish stingray with blue spots and scattered black spots on the disc, a dark 'mask' through the eyes and a very long tail with black and white bars on the rear. Bluespotted Maskrays have two venomous spines on the tail that may cause extremely painful wounds.
In Australia, this species was previously known as Neotrygon kuhlii and Dasyatis kuhlii.
Video of Bluespotted Maskrays at the South West Wall Gold Coast Seaway, Southport Broadwater, and around Wave Break Island, southern Queensland.
Bluespotted Maskray, Neotrygon australiae Last, White & Séret 2016
More Info
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Distribution |
Known from western and northern Australia. and off Daru (northern Torres Strait Islands), Papua New Guinea and Lombok, Indonesia. Inhabits sandy bottoms in deeper water near rocky or coral reefs, moving into shallower water at high tide to forage over the reef flat and sandy-mud bottoms. Individuals often lie buried in sand with only their eyes and tail visible. |
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Fisheries |
Taken as bycatch in commercial fisheries. |
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Remarks |
The Bluespotted Maskray was previously placed in the genus Dasyatis, until being placed in the genus Neotrygon by Last & White (2008). |
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Species Citation |
Neotrygon australiae Last, White & Séret 2016, Zootaxa 4083(4): 542, Figs. 5b, 6b, 7b, 9. Type locality: Northwest Shelf, Western Australia. |
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Author |
Dianne J. Bray |
Bluespotted Maskray, Neotrygon australiae Last, White & Séret 2016
References
Jacobsen, I.P. & Bennett, M.B. 2010. 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 77: 2405–2422 (as Neotrygon kuhlii)
Jacobsen, I.P. & Bennett, M.B. 2011. Feeding ecology and dietary comparisons among three sympatric Neotrygon (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) species. Journal of Fish Biology 80(5): 1580-1594, doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03169.x Abstract
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. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4139.3.2 Abstract
Last, P.R. & Stevens, J.D. 1994. Sharks and Rays of Australia. Canberra : CSIRO Australia 513 pp. (as Dasyatis kuhlii)
Last, P.R. & White, W.T. 2008. Resurrection of the genus Neotrygon Castelnau (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) with the description of Neotrygon picta sp. nov., a new species from northern Australia. pp. 315-326 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., White, W.T. & Séret, B. 2016. Taxonomic status of maskrays of the Neotrygon kuhlii species complex (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) with the description of three new species from the Indo-West Pacific. Zootaxa 4083(4): 533–561. Abstract
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. doi:10.1111/jfb.12104 (as Neotrygon kuhlii) Abstract
Pardo SA, KB Burgess, D Teixeira, MB Bennett. 2015. Local-scale resource partitioning by stingrays on an intertidal flat. Marine Ecology Progress Series533: 205-218. Abstract
Puckridge, M., Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Andreakis, N. 2013. Phylogeography of the Indo-West Pacific maskrays (Dasyatidae, Neotrygon): a complex example of chondrichthyan radiation in the Cenozoic. Ecology and Evolution 3: 217–232.
Weigmann, S., R. Thiel, 2013. Predicting the spatial distribution of the blue-spotted maskray Neotrygon kuhlii (Myliobatiformes, Dasyatidae) on the Australian North and Northwest Shelf comparing two different methods of habitat modeling, Journal of Ichthyology 53(8): 628-640. Abstract
