Round fantail stingray

Round fantail stingray
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Dasyatidae
Genus: Taeniurops
Species:
T. grabatus
Binomial name
Taeniurops grabatus
Distribution of the round fantail stingray
Synonyms
  • Trygon grabatus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
  • Taeniurops grabata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)
  • Taeniura grabata (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)

The round fantail stingray (Taeniurops grabatus) or round stingray, is a poorly known species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It inhabits sandy, muddy, or rocky coastal habitats in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the southern Mediterranean Sea. This dark-colored ray typically reaches a width of 1 m (3.3 ft), and can be identified by its nearly circular pectoral fin disk, short tail, and mostly bare skin. The round fantail stingray hunts for fishes and crustaceans on the sea floor, and exhibits an aplacental viviparous mode of reproduction. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the conservation status of this species as Near Threatened.