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Himantura granulata

Himantura granulata (*)

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Classis: Chondrichthyes
Subclassis: Elasmobranchii
Superordo: Rajomorphii
Ordo: Rajiformes
Superfamilia: Dasyatoidea
Familia: Dasyatidae
Genus: Himantura
Species: Himantura granulata

Vernacular names
English: Mangrove whipray

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The mangrove whipray, Himantura granulata, is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It appears to be widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific, having been reported from Papua New Guinea, the Santa Cruz Islands, the Caroline Islands, the Maldives, northwestern Australia, and Indonesia.[1] This species is known from tropical marine and brackish habitats to a depth of 85 meters (280 ft).[2] Despite its common name, the mangrove whipray is not usually found in mangroves, being more commonly encountered in clear-water lagoons over sand and rubble, near coral reefs.[1] The name of mangrove whipray (or stingray) comes from the holotype described by Macleay, an immature female specimen caught near mangroves off Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. In 1993, this species was re-described on the basis of adult specimens by Ishihara et al., wherein they also proposed a new, less misleading common name, white-tailed stingray (or whipray).[1]
This stingray has a thick, roughly oval-shaped pectoral fin disk slightly longer than wide. The snout is broadly angled with a pointed tip. There may be up to 4 papillae on the floor of the mouth. The teeth are arranged in a quincunx, numbering 40-50 rows in the upper jaw and 38-50 in the lower jaw. The tapering whip-like tail is relatively short, barely longer than the disk width, and lacks fin folds. There is a single serrated spine on the first third of the tail. The dorsal surface is covered with fine denticles, becoming larger towards the midline and over the tail as far as the spine. The coloration is dark gray to black above with many small white spots; the dark color is due to a layer of mucus, without which the body is light orange-gray. The underside is white with small dark spots towards the disk margin. The tail is white past the spine.[1] This species attains a disk width of 1.4 meters (4.6 ft).[2]

The mangrove whipray feeds on small, benthic bony fishes such as gobies, blennies, wrasses, and damselfishes, as well as invertebrates such as peanut worms, crabs, and octopuses.[1] It is capable of locating buried prey using its electroreceptive ampullae of Lorenzini, which have a sensitivity of 4 nV/cm and an effective range of 25 cm (10 in).[3] Like other stingrays, the mangrove whipray is ovoviviparous, with late-stage embryos sustained by histotroph ("uterine milk") produced by the mother. It is caught infrequently by demersal tangle net and trawl fisheries, and utilized for meat, skin, and cartilage.[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ishihara, H., Homma, K., Takeda, Y. and Randall, J.E. (1993). "Redescription, distribution and food habits of the Indo-Pacific dasyatidid stingray Himantura granulata". Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 40 (1): 23–28.
2. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2009). "Himantura granulata" in FishBase. March 2009 version.
3. ^ Haine, O.S., Ridd, P.V. and Rowe, R.J. (2001). "Range of electrosensory detection of prey by Carcharhinus melanopterus and Himantura granulata". Marine and Freshwater Research 52 (3): 291–296. doi:10.1071/MF00036.

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Source: Wikispecies, Wikipedia: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License