The patchwork stingaree (''Urolophus flavomosaicus'') is a little-known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Urolophidae The Urolophidae are a family of rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly known as stingarees or round stingrays. This family formerly included the genera '' Urobatis'' and ''Urotrygon'' of the Americas, which are presently recognized as formin ...

, with a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

off northwestern and northeastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It usually inhabits the outer

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

, at a depth of . This species has a diamond-shaped

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

disc much wider than long, and a short, flattened tail with a prominent

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

and leaf-like

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

. There is a skirt-shaped curtain of skin between its nostrils. Its dorsal color pattern resembles a

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

of dark brown rings with light-colored centers, separated by fine reticulated lines. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) has listed the patchwork stingaree under

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

, as it is subject to minimal fishing pressure.

Taxonomy

Peter Last and Martin Gomon described the patchwork stingaree in a 1987 issue of ''Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria'', giving it the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''flavomosaicus'' from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''flavus'' ("yellow") and ''mosaicus'' ("mosaic") in reference to its coloration. A male across, collected north of

Port Hedland, Western Australia Port Hedland ( Kariyarra: ''Marapikurrinya'') is the second largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with an urban population of 14,320 Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. at June 2018 including the satellite town of So ...

on 21 April 1982, by the research

trawl Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different speci ...

er FRV ''Soela'', was designated as the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

. It seems to be most closely related to the sandyback stingaree (''U. bucculentus'') and the butterfly stingaree (''U. papilio'').

Distribution and habitat

The patchwork stingaree is a northern Australian

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

with a discontinuous range: the western population is found from the

Houtman Abrolhos The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral ...

Cape Leveque Cape Leveque is at the northernmost tip of the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Cape Leveque is (via the Cape Leveque Road) north of Broome, and is remote with few facilities. Nevertheless, the Cape's sandy bea ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, and the eastern population from

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ra ...

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It seems to be rather patchily distributed, with only small numbers of individuals present at any particular location. This

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

species is mostly found over fine substrates on the outer

, and has been reported from deep.

Description

Among the largest members of its family, the patchwork stingaree can grow to at least long. It has a diamond-shaped

disc much wider than long, with broadly rounded outer corners and nearly straight anterior margins that converge at an obtuse angle. The tip of the snout protrudes slightly past the disc. The small eyes are followed by comma-shaped

spiracle Spiracle or spiraculum may refer to: * Spiracle (arthropods), opening in the exoskeletons of some arthropods * Spiracle (vertebrates), openings on the surface of some vertebrates * Spiraculum, a genus of land snails in family Cyclophoridae Cycl ...

s with angular posterior rims. The outer rim of each nostril may be enlarged into a small knob; between the nostrils is a skirt-shaped curtain of skin with a finely fringed trailing margin. There are 8–14 stubby papillae (nipple-like structures) on the floor of the large mouth, as well as a narrow patch of large papillae on the lower jaw. The teeth are small with roughly oval bases, and the five pairs of

gill slit Gill slits are individual openings to gills, i.e., multiple gill arches, which lack a single outer cover. Such gills are characteristic of cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays, as well as deep-branching vertebrates such as lampreys. In con ...

s are short. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are small with curved margins. The short, very flattened tail measures 67–79% as long as the disc and terminates in a short, deep, leaf-shaped

. A lateral skin fold runs along the each side of the tail, which is most obvious in juveniles. The upper surface of the tail bears a rather large

followed by a serrated stinging spine. The skin entirely lacks

dermal denticle A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as we ...

s. The dorsal coloration of this species is distinctive, consisting of a yellowish background with numerous large, dark brown rings surrounding light-colored spots, that may be separated from each other by a network of fine pale lines (particularly at the center of the disc) to give the impression of a

. The rings become smaller and less well-defined towards the margins of the disc. The dorsal and caudal fins are light in adults and dark with nearly black margins in juveniles.

Biology and ecology

Virtually nothing is known of the natural history of the patchwork stingaree.

Ecologically Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, it is apparently the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

equivalent of the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

sandyback stingaree. Reproduction is presumably

aplacental viviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

like in other stingrays, with the developing

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

s sustained by maternally produced histotroph ("

uterine The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the female reproductive system, reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic an ...

milk"). The litter size is probably small, judging by related species. Males mature sexually at under long.

Human interactions

Only the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

Fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

(CSF) off Queensland and the Western Trawl Fisheries (WTF) off Western Australia regularly operate within the geographical and depth range occupied by the patchwork stingaree. Both fisheries have a negligible impact on this species because of their small scale, and are unlikely to expand in the near future. As a result, the

(IUCN) has listed the patchwork stingaree under

. It would potentially benefit from the implementation of the 2004 Australian National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3281188 patchwork stingaree Marine fish of Eastern Australia Marine fish of Western Australia Fauna of Queensland Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Peter R. Last Taxa named by Martin F. Gomon patchwork stingaree