Yellow spotted stingray

The yellow spotted stingray (also known as the yellow stingray or the maid stingray) can be found in tropical, sandy-bottom and seagrass habitats. Occupying shallow depths ranging between 1 and 25 meters, it can be found near sandy beaches and the edges of coral reefs. Like most rays of the Urotrygonidae family, the yellow spotted […]
Whitespotted Eagle Ray

Like all eagle rays, whitespotted eagle rays are active swimmers and do not lie dormant on the seafloor as benthic stingrays do. Associated often with coral reefs and estuaries, whitespotted eagle rays occasionally make their way into estuarine habitats as well. They use their shovel-shaped snout to search for and dig out prey in the […]
Caribbean whiptail ray

Also called the Atlantic chupare, the Caribbean whiptail ray mostly inhabits nearshore brackish and coastal waters, though it is commonly found at several offshore coral reefs and atolls in the western Caribbean. Juveniles may use mangrove habitats as nurseries, moving into coral reef-associated habitats as they grow. The species is important to both fisheries and […]
Southern stingray

A diamond-shaped bottom-dwelling ray species, the southern stingray is common in shallow temperate and tropical coastal waters in the Atlantic Ocean. The southern stingray burrows in sand and seagrass to dig up prey items, in turn stirring up sediments and other small animals. This ‘bioturbation’ not only frees up prey items for other species – […]
Giant manta ray

Highly intelligent and social creatures, giant manta rays in some regions spend their days in large groups and at cleaning stations in shallow waters and then move into deeper waters at night to feed. They are often found concurrently with whale shark aggregations, as both species feed on the highly concentrated zooplankton produced by fish […]
Largetooth sawfish

Primarily occupying shallow waters, the largetooth sawfish is tolerant of fresh and salt water in tropical regions. The most well-studied population was in Lake Nicaragua, Central America, though an intense commercial fishery in the early 1970’s caused a steep decline in the population. In the western Atlantic Ocean, largetooth sawfish historically made fairly long migrations […]
Smalltooth sawfish

Smalltooth sawfish live in shallow, tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Sawfish are named for their distinct rostrum – a long, flat snout, which is edged with teeth. Female sawfish give live birth and the young are called ‘pups,’ which are born with fully developed saws. The saws of the newborn sawfish are very flexible […]