- Martin Roell. Under Creative Commons Attribute Sharealike 2.0 License
- Note the unique reticular pattern on this resting ray.
The reticulate whipray is also called the leopard ray, honeycomb stingray, and reticulate whiptail ray. It is one of about 20 ray species in which the common name includes whipray. This ray’s dorsal side is covered in an intricate pattern of conspicuous dark spots from which it gets the reticulate part of its common name. It inhabits tropical and subtropical waters in sandy areas of coral reefs and in lagoons and estuaries.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
French Polynesia, Australia, African southern and west coast, Indo-Pacific, Taiwan, introduced to the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean
- Amazing Facts
Scientists believe that the high nutrient value of the lipid and protein-rich uterine milk (histotroph) that nourishes stingray embryos is the reason for their 3,000 to 5,000 percent weight increase during development. Rays are the only vertebrates that have such a remarkable weight gain during fetal development
- At the Aquarium
Our reticulate whipray, a female, was donated to us by the Landry’s Downtown Aquarium in Denver, Colorado because it was being picked on by other fish in the exhibit and it was feared that it would eventually be seriously injured. Our aquarists brought her from Denver to Long Beach by truck, a trip so long that a relief team of aquarists took over in New Mexico. Our ray, which weighs close to (300 lb), is one of the largest animals in the Aquarium’s habitats. She is such a good eater that she always leaves a clean plate when offered a meal of sardines, clams, squid and sometimes mahi
