English Name: Pink Whipray
Local Name: Naru Nagoo Madi
Size: 1.8 m
Family: DASYATIDAE
Order: Myliobatiformes
Distinctive Characters: A large stingray with a kite-shaped disc that is wider than long; disc width approximately 1.1-1.2 x length. Snout fairly short, and obtusely angular. Apical lobe (snout tip) triangular, slightly extended.
Colour: Dorsum grey-brown or pinkish. Pale spots anterior to eye and between eye and spiracle. Ventrum white with a broad dark margin that starts posterior to mouth level. Tail beyond caudal sting fades to black.
Habitat and Biology: Tropical seas. On sandy substrates and reef rubble, often adjacent to reefs. From shallow bays to inner continental shelf. Intertidal to 200m.
Distribution: Indian Ocean and west/central Pacific. Recorded from South Africa and Egypt. Population more consistent from India, through Southeast Asia (including southern Japan) to northern Australia. Also eastward to Samoa and French Polynesia.
Remarks: Known to form large mating/feeding aggregations of up to 25 animals or more during the summer months. Pink whiprays are very common in southern Queensland, they are also seen at many spots in the Maldives with huge fever of rays. Predates mainly on small fishes and prawns.