Southern, Stringray
Food Quality:
Avg. Length
3-4ft
Avg. Weight
10-50lbs
World Record
246lbs
FL Record
n/a
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Scientific Name
Dasyatis americana
Common Names
Stringaree, Raya
Description
The Southern Stingray is a circular shaped ray with spines on top and a long barbed tail used for defence purposes. The coloration is olive green to brown on the top (darker with age) and whitish on the bottom.
Habitat & Behaviour
Southern Stingrays are often found migrating in schools, in pairs or by themselves. They often stop in to ocean cleaning stations run by bluehead wrasses and hogfishes. When they’re not being cleaned they can be found on sandy bottoms, reefs and even lagoons.
Natural Prey
Southern stingrays eat bivalves, worms, small fish and crustaceans. Since their prey is often buried in the sand, they un-bury it by forcing streams of water out their mouth or flapping their fins over the sand. They find their prey using electro-reception and their excellent senses of smell and touch.
Handling Tips
Handle with extreme caution. Recommended to net them, be careful they have spines with barbs on the tail that are poisonous and can cause intense pain or worse. If harvesting, remove sharp spine with pliers. Some small teeth but small mouth – gaff in nose in front of mouth.
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