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Urogymnus asperrimus  (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Porcupine whipray
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Urogymnus asperrimus
Picture by Randall, J.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Myliobatiformes (Stingrays) > Dasyatidae (Stingrays)
Etymology: Urogymnus: Greek, oura = tail + Greek, gymnos = naked (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 15 - 217 m (Ref. 86942).   Tropical, preferred ?; 31°N - 31°S, 20°W - 177°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and coast of East Africa to the Marshall Islands and Fiji, south to northern Australia (Ref. 2334). Eastern Atlantic: Senegal, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire (Ref. 4438).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 100 - ? cm
Max length : 147 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 58048)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Diagnosis: A heavily armored stingray lacking a venomous barb; young with large, flat denticles on upper surface, and large juveniles and adults with additional sharp conical thorns and small, pointed denticles (Ref. 5578).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits the continental shelf area (Ref. 2334), but capable of entering coastal lagoons (Ref. 81259). Found on sand and coral rubble areas near reefs (Ref. 9840), often in caves. Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). Due to its difficult handling, it is probably of limited commercial value (Ref. 9840). Its thorn can inflict a painful injury; caught commonly by demersal tangle net fisheries; utilized for its meat, skin (very high value) and cartilage (Ref.58048).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Exhibit ovoviparity (aplacental viviparity), with embryos feeding initially on yolk, then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus, fat or protein through specialised structures (Ref. 50449). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene, 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 p. (Ref. 2334)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 2334)




Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishes of Iran | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01047 (0.00430 - 0.02548), b=3.04 (2.83 - 3.25), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.46 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Assuming fecundity<100).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.