Broad cowtail ray

How it lives

Lives in coastal water shallower than about 60 m, often on intertidal lagoons and reef flats, and can enter estuaries and even fresh water. Females give birth to live young, usually two pups per litter, fed in the womb by a nutrient-rich fluid. Juveniles favour sand flats and mangrove edges, and at the lowest tides they have been seen covering themselves with sand and staying still. In Shark Bay, resting rays arrange themselves in a rosette with tails pointing outward. Lifespan is estimated at over 25 years, based on similar species.

Where it goes

Juveniles studied at Orpheus Island, Australia, moved with the tides. They moved faster on the incoming and outgoing tide and were less active at high and low tide. Long-distance movements were not described in the sources I read.

We only draw a journey on the map when scientists have tracked it or clearly documented it. For this animal we have not found one yet.

Populations

Vulnerable worldwide (IUCN, assessed 2020, criterion A2d, with a decreasing population). One source estimates global declines of 30 to 49 percent, and names bycatch in coastal fisheries, mangrove loss and pollution as causes. Ratings differ between sources: a Fishes of Australia page lists Least Concern. I did not find a population count in the sources I read. It was long treated as the same species as the cowtail stingray (Pastinachus sephen).