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 sand, and crush invertebrates such as molluscs and crustaceans with their specialized chevron-shaped tooth structure. Whitespotted eagle rays can be observed jumping out of the water, especially over shallow waters. As a favorite prey item of great hammerhead sharks, this may be a predator avoidance behavior.
