Himantura australis, the Australian whipray, is a type of whiptail stingray found mainly in Australia and south of New Guinea island.[2][3][1] This species is a minor bycatch and usually released back to ocean by Australian trawlers, although it might be retained for human consumption by the New Guinean locals.[1]
This species can be distinguished from several characteristics, such as weakly rhomboidal-shaped disc, short preorbital snout, narrowly rounded lateral apices, yellow-pale brown body color, white-colored underside, and fully covered in scattered dark brown speckles or reticulations.[2][3] The maximum size of the female specimen is 140 cm disc width.[2]
Habitat & distribution
This species distribution range encompasses Northern Territory, Western Australia, and Queensland in Australia, and both Indonesian Papua and the sovereign Papua New Guinea.[2][1] It inhabits the shallow habitats and ranges from the surface to a depth of around 45 m.[1] It is often accidentally caught by trawlers and fishers in Australian region, but it might be a target and used as delicacy by the locals of Papua New Guinea.[1]
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