Common names
Peitschenrochen, Stechrochen, Pastinaca, Giant black ray, Giant stingray, New Zealand short-tail stingaree, Schreiners ray, Short-tail stingray, Short-tailed stingaree, Shorttail black stingray, Shorttail stingray, Smooth short-tailed stingray, Smooth stingray, Stingray, Pastinaca, Trigono, Uge cauda-curta

Short Description
A huge, thick, plain stingray with a bluntly angular snout, and a pectoral disc with round tips; tail thick-based and shorter than body (longer in young) with a small upper and a long lower caudal finfold, the lower not reaching the tail tip; disc smooth except for large, slender thorn on tail in front of stings; often 2 stings, the front one small, the rear one huge [536]. Grey-brown or bluish-grey dorsally with a row small, pale blue spots at each pectoral fin base; white ventrally; tail plain [536]. The caudal fin is replaced by a long whip-like tail [578]. Tail shorter than or the same length as the disc [578].

Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: southern Mozambique and South Africa [536], New Zealand, and temperate and subtropical coasts of Australia. Accounts of this species from Thailand may be of the closely related Dasyatis matsubarai. Source: www.gbif.org

Human uses
gamefish: yes

Biology
Exhibit ovoviparity (aplacental viviparity), with embryos feeding initially on yolk, then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus, fat or protein through specialised structures [733]. Distinct pairing with embrace [17086]. During courtship, the male will hold onto the pectoral margin of a female (sometimes for hours) as she swims through the water. The male flips under the female and inserts a clasper. The male beats his tail from side to side to move the clasper backward and forward in the cloca. Copulation lasts 3-5 minutes. Males have been observed to nudge the female"quot;s abdomen during parturition. Viviparous, young born at about 36 cm WD [1388]. Occurs offshore, on the outer shelf and uppermost slope; sometimes close inshore [536]. Found on sandy bottoms, in bays, harbors, and near rocky reefs[1658]. Often in aggregations. Feeds on fishes, bivalves, squid, and crustaceans.

Size / Weight / Age
430 cm TL (male/unsexed; [536])

Habitat
demersal; brackish; marine; depth range 0 - 476 m [536]

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=7938;

Parasites (arranged by Jürgen Pollerspöck)
Monogenea

• Dendromonocotyle tsutsumii Kitamura & Ogawa, 2019 [27164]
• Heterocotyle tokoloshei Vaughan & Chisholm, 2010 [21201] [27172]
• Hypanocotyle bullardi Chero, Cruces, Sáez, Camargo, Santos & Luque, 2018 [31765]

Cestoda

• Dollfusiella ocallaghani (Beveridge, 1990) Beveridge & Jones, 2000 [16252] [16112]
• Prochristianella mooreae Beveridge, 1990 [16252] [16112]
• Pterobothrium lintoni (Maccallum, 1916) Dollfus, 1942 [16283] [16112]
• Pterobothrium platycephalum (Shipley & Hornell, 1906) Dollfus, 1930 [15789]
• Rhinebothrium dasyatidis Coleman, Beveridge & Campbell, 2018 [26943]
• Trimacracanthus aetobatidis (Robinson, 1959) [16252] [16112] [17404]

Isopoda

• Gnathia sp. [21440]

Hirudinea

• Branchellion brevicaudatae Jimi, Shinji, Hookabe, Okanishi, Woo & Nakano, 2023 [32165]