Common Name: Blue Spotted Maskray

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa, north to southern Japan, south to Australia. In Australia recorded from around Geraldton in Western Australia, across the tropical north including the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Coral Sea and south through the Great Barrier Reef to around Sydney in New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents sandy or mud bottoms especially adjacent to reef areas, moving into shallower water at high tide. Depth to at least 170 m.

Additional Notes: Variable colouration from grey to brown with pale blue white spots, and scattered smaller darker spots. Tail as long as body and distinctly banded, usually with one and sometimes 2 spines. (Rear portion of tail missing from specimen in bottom photograph). Feeds on crabs and shrimps. Caught in large quantities in the bottom trawl industry but of limited commercial value due to its small size. Grows to about 70 cm long and 45 cm wide.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.29.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Neotrygon-kuhlii.html. Accessed 30/09/2018.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=neotrygon+kuhlii. Accessed 30/09/2018.