Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Porcupine ray (Urogymnus asperrimus), recorded as Endangered
Porcupine ray (Urogymnus asperrimus). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Porcupine ray

Urogymnus asperrimus

Porcupine ray is a stingray in the family Dasyatidae (order Myliobatiformes) — Urogymnus asperrimus, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Urogymnus asperrimus
Taxonomy
Elasmobranchii · Myliobatiformes · Dasyatidae · Urogymnus

Appearance

The tip of the snout is rounded and barely protruding. Five pairs of gill slits are located on the underside of the disc. The thin, rapidly tapering tail is about equal to the disc in length and has an almost cylindrical cross-section, without fin folds.

Range and habitat

The porcupine ray is widely distributed, but uncommon compared to other stingrays that share its range. It is found all along the continental periphery of the Indian Ocean, from South Africa to the Arabian Peninsula to Southeast Asia to Ningaloo Reef off western Australia, among them Madagascar, the Seychelles, and Sri Lanka. It has colonized the eastern Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. In the Pacific Ocean, its range continues through Indonesia and New Guinea, north to the Philippines, east to the Gilbert Islands and Fiji, and south to Heron Island off eastern Australia.

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

Diet

Its diet consists primarily of sipunculids, polychaete worms, crustaceans, and bony fishes. The diet of the porcupine ray consists mainly of benthic invertebrates and bony fishes, that it digs up from the sea floor.

In crisis

Unregulated fishing has led to this species declining in many parts of its range, thus it has been listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Porcupine 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 Porcupine ray, Wikidata item Q1657133. 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 Mangrove whipray (Urogymnus granulatus), recorded as EndangeredEN

Mangrove whipray

Urogymnus granulatus
Photograph of Giant freshwater stingray (Urogymnus polylepis), recorded as EndangeredEN

Giant freshwater stingray

Urogymnus polylepis
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus

Quick answers

What is Porcupine ray?
Porcupine ray is a stingray in the family Dasyatidae (order Myliobatiformes) — Urogymnus asperrimus.
What is the conservation status of Porcupine ray?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Urogymnus asperrimus. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Porcupine ray live?
In the Pacific Ocean, its range continues through Indonesia and New Guinea, north to the Philippines, east to the Gilbert Islands and Fiji, and south to Heron Island off eastern Australia.
Why is Porcupine ray in crisis?
Unregulated fishing has led to this species declining in many parts of its range, thus it has been listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Urogymnus asperrimus?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Porcupine ray a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.