page_title: Pink whipray
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Pink whipray / Description
caption_attribution_description: Pink whipray (Himantura fai) off Tahiti.
context_page_description: The pink whipray is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, with a wide but ill-defined distribution in the tropical Indo-Pacific from southern Africa to Polynesia. It is a bottom dweller that generally inhabits shallow water under 70 m deep, in sandy areas associated with coral reefs. Individuals exhibit a high degree of fidelity to particular locations. The pink whipray has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc wider than long, with a broad-angled snout and a very long, whip-like tail without fin folds. It has only a few small thorns on its back and is uniform brownish to grayish pink in color, becoming much darker past the tail sting. This large ray can reach 1.8 m across and over 5 m long.
  Gregarious in nature, the pink whipray has been known to form large active and resting aggregations, and associate with other large ray species. It preys mainly on prawns, but also consumes other benthic invertebrates and bony fishes. This species is aplacental viviparous, in which the unborn young are nourished by histotroph produced by the mother.
context_section_description: The pectoral fin disc of the pink whipray is diamond-shaped and thick at the center, measuring about 1.1–1.2 times wider than long. The outer corners of the disc are angular. The snout forms a very obtuse angle, with the tip barely protruding. The small, widely spaced eyes are followed by larger spiracles. There is a short and broad curtain of skin with a finely fringed posterior margin between the long, thin nostrils. The mouth is fairly small and surrounded by prominent furrows; the lower jaw has a small indentation in the middle. There are two large central and two tiny lateral papillae on the floor of the mouth. The teeth are small and arranged into pavement-like surfaces. Five pairs of gill slits are located beneath the disc. The pelvic fins are small and narrow.
  The tail is extremely long and thin, measuring at least twice the disc length when intact. It lacks fin folds and usually bears a single serrated stinging spine. Adults have small, rounded dermal denticles covering the central dorsal surface of the disc, beginning in front of the eyes and extending to cover the entire tail; there are also small, sharp thorns on the midline, which become densest at the base of the tail. Juveniles are either smooth-skinned or have a sparser covering of flat, heart-shaped denticles. This species is uniform grayish to brownish pink above, becoming dark gray to black on the tail past the sting, and uniformly light below. It grows to at least 1.8 m (5.9 ft) across and over 5 m (16 ft) long. Its maximum weight on record is 19 kg (42 lb).
caption: The pink whipray can be identified by its uniform grayish dorsal coloration, which darkens past the sting.
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