Description
The estuary stingray has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc about as wide as long, with gently convex anterior margins and broadly rounded outer corners. The snout is wide and triangular, and tapers to a point. The small, widely spaced eyes are immediately followed by the spiracles. Between the long and narrow nostrils, there is a short and broad "skirt" of skin with a weakly fringed posterior margin. The small, bow-shaped mouth is surrounded by deep furrows and contains a row of five papillae across the floor, with the outermost pair tiny and set apart from the others. The teeth are small and arranged into pavement-like surfaces. There are five pairs of gill slits beneath the disc. The pelvic fins are relatively large.
The tail measures twice as long as the disc, and is broad and flattened at the base. On its upper surface is at least one, often two serrated stinging spines. Past the spines, the tail quickly tapers to become whip-like and bears a well-developed keel above and a long, low fin fold beneath. There are wide patches of small dermal denticles with flattened crowns between the eyes and over the middle of the back, along with a midline row of enlarged thorns that become progressively longer until they reach the base of the sting. Aside from the thorns at the base, the tail is smooth. This species is yellowish to greenish brown above, lightening towards the disc margins and darkening past the tail spine, and white below. It grows to at least 93 cm (37 in) across, and possibly reaches a width of 1.2 m (3.9 ft). Its maximum recorded weight is 6.1 kg (13 lb).
Read more about this topic: Estuary Stingray
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