Common Name: Blotched Fantail Ray

Distribution: Relatively common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa, to Micronesia, north to southern Japan, south to Australia. In Australia recorded from Exmouth in Western Australia, across the tropical north, the Coral Sea, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to northern New South Wales, and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents wide range of habitats, from lagoons and inshore areas to offshore reefs and slopes. Depth to at least 500 m, but usually 20 to 60 m.

Additional Notes: Recognised by the circular disc and blotchy black and white upper surface without thorns. Ventral skin fold extends to end of tail. Feeds on bottom dwelling fishes, molluscs and crustaceans and grows to 3.3 m long.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.31.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Taeniurops-meyeni.html. Accessed 01/10/2018.