The sandyback stingaree or great stingaree (''Urolophus bucculentus'') 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 ...

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 ...

to southeastern

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 is generally found offshore around the edge of the

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 . A relatively large species reaching long, the sandyback stingaree 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 wider than long, usually with a dorsal pattern of numerous fine lighter marks on a yellowish to brownish background. Its short tail terminates in a deep, leaf-shaped

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 ...

, and bears a sizable

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 ...

just in front of the stinging spine. A bottom-dwelling

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

taking mostly

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, the sandyback stingaree is

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 ...

: females supply their unborn young with 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"), bearing up to five pups every other year following a 14–19-month

gestation period In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once it ...

. Significant numbers of this species are taken incidentally by

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

, primarily off

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

where overall stingaree populations have declined dramatically as a result. With fishing pressure still intense in the area, 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 assessed the sandyback stingaree as Vulnerable.

Taxonomy

Australian naturalist

William John Macleay Sir William John Macleay (13 June 1820 – 7 December 1891) was a Scottish-Australian politician, Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. Early life Macleay was born at Wick, Highland, Wick, Caithness, Scotland, ...

described the sandyback stingaree in an 1884 issue of ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales'', based on specimens collected near

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. Within the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

, it seems to be most closely related to the

patchwork stingaree The patchwork stingaree (''Urolophus flavomosaicus'') is a little-known species of stingray in the family Urolophidae, with a disjunct distribution off northwestern and northeastern Australia. It usually inhabits the outer continental shelf, at ...

(''U. flavomosaicus'') and the butterfly stingaree (''U. papilio'').

Distribution and habitat

The sandyback stingaree is patchily distributed off southeastern Australia, from

Beachport Beachport is a small coastal town in the Australian state of South Australia about south-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about north-west of the municipal seat in Millicent, located at the northern end of Rivoli Bay. Beachport has ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, to

Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Island, also known as Minjerribah, was a large sand island that formed much of the eastern side of Moreton Bay near Brisbane, Queensland until the late 19th century. Today the island is split into two islands: North Stradbroke Islan ...

off

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_ ...

. 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 ...

ray generally inhabits areas with fine

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

on the outer

and upper

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margin ...

, and rarely ventures

inshore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

. It has been reported from between deep.

Description

The sandyback stingaree has a diamond-shaped

disc much wider than long, with rounded outer corners and nearly straight leading margins converging at an obtuse angle. The snout is fleshy and slightly protruding at the tip. The small eyes are closely 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 to rounded posterior rims. The posterior rim of the nostrils sometimes bear a ridge, and between the nostrils is a skirt-shaped curtain of skin with a finely fringed trailing margin. The mouth is fairly large and contains small teeth with roughly oval bases, as well as 14–16 papillae (nipple-like structures) on the floor and a narrow patch of papillae on the lower jaw. 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 rounded margins. The tail is short, measuring 62–73% as long as the disc, and strongly flattened with a skin fold running along each side. The upper surface of the tail bears a serrated stinging spine, which is preceded by a relatively large

. The

is lance-like, short, and deep. The skin is devoid of

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. This species is yellowish to brownish above; many individuals are patterned with small pale spots and reticulations. The dorsal and caudal fins are darker in juveniles, and may be mottled in adults. The underside is plain white, with black blotches beneath the tail in some individuals. The sandyback stingaree is the largest member of its family off southern Australia, growing to long.

Biology and ecology

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 ...

, the sandyback stingaree is 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 ...

counterpart of 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 ...

patchwork stingaree. It preys primarily on

s. Females have been known to use their stings to discourage unwanted suitors; one recorded specimen was found with a broken-off sting embedded in its back, that had been there for some time. Reproduction is

, probably 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 ("

milk") like in other stingrays. Females bear litters of 1–5 pups every other year, after a

lasting 14–19 months. Newborn rays measure about long; males attain

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definitio ...

at around long and females at around long. Its large adult size suggests a relatively slow growth rate. A known

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

of this species is the

monogenea Monogeneans are a group of ectoparasitic flatworms commonly found on the skin, gills, or fins of fish. They have a direct lifecycle and do not require an intermediate host. Adults are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reprod ...

n ''Calicotyle urolophi''.

Human interactions

Along with the

greenback stingaree The greenback stingaree (''Urolophus viridis'') is a little-known species of stingray in the family Urolophidae, endemic to the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope off southeastern Australia. Growing to a length of , this species ...

(''U. viridis''), the sandyback stingaree contributes substantially to the stingaree

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery (SESSF) operating off

; it may also be caught incidentally by the Oceanic Prawn Trawl Fishery and other fisheries in the area. It faces less fishing pressure in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

and off western Tasmania. This ray is edible but not marketed, and may be persecuted by fishery workers as its sting makes it hard to handle. Though specific data is lacking,

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 ...

surveys have shown that stingaree catches from the New South Wales upper continental slope declined over 65% between 1976–77 and 1996–77. Given that SESSF activity within its range remains high, the

(IUCN) has assessed the sandyback stingaree as Vulnerable. This species would potentially benefit from the implementation of the 2004 Australian National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks.

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Urolophus bucculentus''
{{DEFAULTSORT:stingaree, sandyback sandyback stingaree Fauna of New South Wales Fauna of Victoria (Australia) Fauna of Tasmania Vulnerable fauna of Australia Taxa named by William John Macleay sandyback stingaree Taxonomy articles created by Polbot