Cowtail stingray: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the cowtail stingray lives – recorded in 6 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Pastinachus sephen
Group	Rays, skates & chimaeras
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	6 countries
Continents	Africa, Asia, Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Myliobatiformes
Family	Dasyatidae

Where does the cowtail stingray live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the cowtail stingray in 6 countries and territories across Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the cowtail stingray endangered?

The cowtail stingray’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the cowtail stingray?

The cowtail stingray (Pastinachus sephen) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Myliobatiformes and the family Dasyatidae, genus Pastinachus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the cowtail stingray

The cowtail stingray (Pastinachus sephen) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, widespread in the Indo-Pacific region and occasionally entering freshwater habitats. Other common names include banana-tail ray, drab stingray, fantail ray, feathertail stingray, and frill tailed sting ray. This species is sometimes placed in the genus Dasyatis or Hypolophus (an obsolete synonym of Pastinachus). The most distinctive characteristic of the cowtail stingray is the large, flag-like ventral fold on its tail, which is especially prominent when the ray is swimming. This species is targeted by commercial fisheries as a source of high-quality shagreen, a type of leather, and its populations are now under threat from heavy exploitation.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Cowtail stingray (revision 1313719782), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1185275 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).