Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Mottled eagle ray (Aetomylaeus maculatus), recorded as Endangered
Mottled eagle ray (Aetomylaeus maculatus). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Mottled eagle ray

Aetomylaeus maculatus

Mottled eagle ray is an eagle ray in the family Myliobatidae (order Myliobatiformes) — Aetomylaeus maculatus, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Aetomylaeus maculatus
Taxonomy
Elasmobranchii · Myliobatiformes · Myliobatidae · Aetomylaeus

Appearance

The mottled eagle ray can grow up to 78 cm in disc width. Mottled Eagle Rays have a very distinct pattern on their backs, making it very hard to miss them if spotted. This pattern consists of various striped and patches.

Range and habitat

It is found in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, and estuarine waters. It inhabits shoreline waters that have soft sand and up to 60 meters deep.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet and breeding

Rays feed on the bottom or in open water depending on the family. Nets and shallow-water fisheries are the usual human contact.

Sharks and rays grow slowly and have few young. A fishery that treats them as bycatch can empty a coastal form.

In crisis

The population of this animal is thought to be in the thousands, though how many are found in distinct areas can be variable. This fish is mainly caught as bycatch in fishing nets. Therefore lowering the population.

This animal is in the most danger in the areas near the East and South China Seas, where fishing is so prevalent that populations of this species have crashed by over 70%, therefore leaving natives to those areas relying on smaller fish in their catches. The assessment year from the IUCN was 2020, when it was marked as endangered.

Mottled eagle ray is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Mottled eagle ray, Wikidata item Q4547111. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Bull ray (Aetomylaeus bovinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Bull ray

Aetomylaeus bovinus
Photograph of Ornate eagle ray (Aetomylaeus vespertilio), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Ornate eagle ray

Aetomylaeus vespertilio
Photograph of Ocellate Eagle Ray (Aetomylaeus milvus), recorded as EndangeredEN

Ocellate Eagle Ray

Aetomylaeus milvus
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus

Quick answers

What is Mottled eagle ray?
Mottled eagle ray is an eagle ray in the family Myliobatidae (order Myliobatiformes) — Aetomylaeus maculatus.
What is the conservation status of Mottled eagle ray?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Aetomylaeus maculatus. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Mottled eagle ray live?
Almost all of the Eagle Ray species tend to be found in the same area of the Western-Indian Ocean, Eastern Central Pacific Ocean, etc.
Why is Mottled eagle ray in crisis?
The original classification of the Mottled Eagle Ray as an endangered species (A2d) was made due to the estimated 50-79% reduction in its population over the past 3 decades/3 generation lengths.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Aetomylaeus maculatus?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Mottled eagle ray a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.