English Name: Porcupine Ray
Local Name: Kashi Madi
Size: 1.15 m
Family: DASYATIDAE
Order: Myliobatiformes
Distinctive Characters: A large stingray with a thick, oval disc that is equal to or very slightly narrower than long. Snout short, and obtusely angular or broadly rounded, with a small, protruding apical lobe at tip. Anterior margins of disc convex. Pectoral fin apices broadly rounded. Pelvic fins very short.
Eyes small and protuding. Snout length approximately 1.5-2x combined eye and spiracle length. Mouth wide with 3-5 short oral papillae. Lower jaw somewhat concave at symphysis. Labial furrows pronounced. Small, skirt-shaped nasal curtain with a long fringe on the posterior margin. Nostrils long and thin.
Disc densely covered in flattened plate-like denticles and large scattered thorns that are more concentrated near midline and dorsally on tail. Tail slender and short; length approximately equal to disc width. Tail tapers to caudal sting then slowly thins to tip. Caudal finfolds and stings absent.
Colour:Dorsum brownish, yellowish, pinkish grey, or black. Thorns often paler. Ventrum white, sometimes with a dusky margin. Tail beyond caudal sting black.
Habitat and Biology: Coastal; lives on soft bottoms near coral reef habitats, tropical seas. In shallow sandy bays, coral reefs, sandy lagoons, mud flats, and mangroves. Intertiday to approximately 30m.
Distribution:Indian Ocean and Indo-West Pacific
Remarks: The porcupine ray feeds mostly on marine worms, crabs, and bivalves. Feeds by ‘plowing’ through the substrate in search of buried prey species.