Whiptail stingray

Whiptail stingrays
Temporal range: Hauterivian–Recent[1]
Southern stingray (Dasyatis americana)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Myliobatiformes
Suborder: Myliobatoidei
Family: Dasyatidae
D. S. Jordan, 1888

The whiptail stingrays are a family, the Dasyatidae, of rays in the order Myliobatiformes. They are found worldwide in tropical to temperate marine waters, and a number of species have also penetrated into fresh water in North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Members of this family have flattened pectoral fin discs that range from oval to diamond-like in shape. Their common name comes from their whip-like tails, which are much longer than the disc and lack dorsal and caudal fins. All whiptail stingrays, except the porcupine ray (Urogymnus asperrimus), have one or more venomous stings near the base of the tail, which is used in defense. They range in size from 0.18 to 2.0 m (0.59 to 6.56 ft) or more across.

Genera

The taxonomy of Dasyatidae was revised by Peter Last, Gavin Naylor, and Mabel Manjaji-Matsumoto in 2016, based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic data. The placement of Megatrygon within the family is provisional pending further research, as evidence suggests it may be more closely related to the families Potamotrygonidae and Urotrygonidae than to other dasyatids.[2]

Phylogeny

Dasyatidae
Pastinachinae

Pastinachus
Urogymninae

Fontitrygon

Urogymnus


Brevitrygon

Fluvitrygon

Pateobatis

Maculabatis

Himantura
Neotrygoninae

Neotrygon

Taeniura



Dasyatinae

Hypanus


Dasyatis

Taeniurops


Bathytoshia

Pteroplatytrygon

Hemitrygon

Telatrygon









Phylogenetic relationships of dasyatid genera, based on mitochondrial DNA (Makararaja not included; Megatrygon does not cluster within the family).[2]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dasyatidae.
  1. ↑ M Puckridge, PR Last, WT White and N Andreakis (2012) Phylogeography of the Indo-West Pacific maskrays (Dasyatidae, Neotrygon): a complex example of chondrichthyan radiation in the Cenozoic. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.448.
  2. 1 2 Last, P.R., Naylor, G.J. & Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M. (2016). "A revised classification of the family Dasyatidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) based on new morphological and molecular insights". Zootaxa. 4139 (3): 345–368. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4139.3.2.
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