Distribution and Habitat
One of the most abundant cartilaginous fishes off southern Australia, the sparsely-spotted stingaree has a relatively wide distribution extending from Crowdy Head in New South Wales to Lancelin in Western Australia, including the entirety of Tasmania. Its range has expanded southward in the past few decades, apparently due to climate change. In Port Phillip, its numbers increased from 1970 to 1991, likely as a result of fisheries depleting its ecological competitors.
Bottom-dwelling in nature, the sparsely-spotted stingaree inhabits a variety of sandy or seagrass-bottomed habitats, ranging from very shallow, sheltered bays and inlets to the open continental shelf, 150 m (490 ft) deep or more. Rays found further north, such as in the Great Australian Bight, tend to be found at depths greater than 80–100 m (260–330 ft). By contrast, rays found further south, off Victoria and Tasmania, are most common in less than 30 m (100 ft) of water. There is no evidence for segregation by age or sex, though there may be an offshore migration during winter.
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