Species: Hypanus guttatus, Longnose Stingray

Hypanus guttatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Longnose Stingray

Disc rhomboidal, 1.1 times as wide as long, angular at front, outer and rear corners abruptly rounded at a 90 degree angle; snout moderately protruding and relatively long, its length 23-26% of disc width, its angle 105-115 degrees, its sides concave to level of spiracles; nostrils with a large fringed curtain between them and the mouth; floor of the mouth has fleshy papillae; teeth with low oval or angular crowns; tail long and slender, ending in a point; tail base broad, depressed; 1 large, serrated, venomous spine on top of tail; no tail fin or dorsal fins, but tail with small dorsal keel behind the spine and a ventral fleshy ridge, height of the ventral ridge 33-80% of the height of the tail above it; a broad band of small flattened tubercles on center of back from between eyes to the tail base; a row of blunt thorns along mid-back from behind eyes to tail spine.

Upper surface grey, brown or olive, sometimes with dark spots; ridge on back, and dorsal and ventral tail folds are black; lower surface white to yellowish.

Reaches 200 cm disc width.

Benthic on sandy bottoms, rarely on mud.

Depth range: 0-229 m.

The Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.