Leopard whipray: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the leopard whipray lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Himantura leoparda
Group	Rays, skates & chimaeras
Status	Endangered (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	Africa, Oceania
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Myliobatiformes
Family	Dasyatidae

Where does the leopard whipray live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the leopard whipray in 2 countries and territories across Africa and Oceania. Wikidata gives its range as: New Guinea.

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 leopard whipray endangered?

The leopard whipray’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Endangered” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the leopard whipray?

The leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Myliobatiformes and the family Dasyatidae, genus Himantura. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the leopard whipray

The leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda) is a little-known species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in the central Indo-West Pacific region, from the Andaman Sea to the Coral Triangle. It is found close to shore at depths shallower than 70 m (230 ft), over soft substrates. Attaining a width of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), this species has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc with a pointed snout and an extremely long, whip-like tail without fin folds. Adult rays have a leopard-like dorsal pattern of dark brown rings on a yellowish brown background, as well as a row of enlarged, heart-shaped dermal denticles along the midline of the disc. Newborns and small juveniles have large, solid dark spots and few denticles. The leopard whipray is caught by fisheries in many parts of its range, primarily for meat.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Leopard whipray (revision 1366333903), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q3015224 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).