| Longtail stingray | ||||||||||||||||
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| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||||
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Data deficient
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Dasyatis longa (Garman, 1880) |
- For another ray species which also has the common name 'longtail stingray' go to thorntail stingray.
The longtail stingray, Dasyatis longa, is a stingray of the family Dasyatidae found on sandy-bottomed rocky and coral reefs in the eastern Pacific from southern Gulf of California to Colombia and the Galapagos Islands. Its length is up to 2.6 m, and disc width up to 1.58 m.
The longtail stingray's disc is broader than it is long, with the front and side margins of the disc nearly straight. The snout is bluntly angular, but not protruding, and the tail is very long and slender, more than twice the length of the disc. There is no caudal fin, but a fin fold is present along the underside of the middle of the tail. There is a central row of blunt thorns extending from the head to the shoulder girdle, and two additional thorns much farther back with 1 to 2 thorns on each shoulder. The skin is otherwise smooth. Coloration is generally dark brown to nearly blackish without distinctive marks.
The thorntail stingray is ovoviviparous, with 1 to 3 pups per litter, with size at birth approximately 40 cm.
References
- "Dasyatis longa". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. July 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
