page_title: Short-tail stingray
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Short-tail stingray / Distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: Short-tail stingray (Dasyatis brevicaudata) off Narooma, New South Wales, Australia.
context_page_description: The short-tail stingray or smooth stingray is a common species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It occurs off southern Africa, typically offshore at a depth of 180–480 m, and off southern Australia and New Zealand, from the intertidal zone to a depth of 156 m. It is mostly bottom-dwelling in nature and can be found across a range of habitats from estuaries to reefs, but also frequently will swim into open water. The largest stingray in the world, this heavy-bodied species can grow upwards of 2.1 m across and 350 kg in weight. Its plain-colored, diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc is characterized by a lack of dermal denticles even in adults, and white pores beside the head on either side. The body can have colors as well as dark grey or black with rows of white spots along each wing. Its tail is usually shorter than the disc and thick at the base. It is armed with large tubercles and a midline row of large thorns in front of the stinging spine which has the dorsal and ventral fin folds behind.
  The diet of the short-tail stingray consists of invertebrates and bony fishes, including burrowing and midwater species.
context_section_description: The short-tail stingray is common and widely distributed in the temperate waters of the Southern Hemisphere. Off southern Africa, it has been reported from Cape Town in South Africa to the mouth of the Zambezi River in Mozambique. Along the southern Australian coast, it is found from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Maroochydore in Queensland, including Tasmania. In New Zealand waters, it occurs off North Island and the Chatham Islands, and rarely off South Island and the Kermadec Islands. Records from northern Australia and Thailand likely represent misidentifications of pink whipray and pitted stingray, respectively. Over the past few decades, its range and numbers off southeastern Tasmania have grown, possibly as a result of climate change.
  Off southern Africa, the short-tail stingray is rare in shallow water and is most often found over offshore banks at a depth of 180 to 480 m (590 to 1,570 ft). However, off Australia and New Zealand, it was found from the intertidal zone to no deeper than 156 m (512 ft). Australian and New Zealand rays were most abundant in the shallows during the summer. A tracking study conducted on two New Zealand rays suggests that they shifted to deeper waters during the winter, but did not undertake long-distance migrations. The short-tail stingray is mainly bottom-dwelling in nature, inhabiting a variety of environments including brackish estuaries, sheltered bays and inlets, sandy flats, rocky reefs, and the outer continental shelf. However, it also makes regular forays upward into the middle of the water column.
caption: Off Australia and New Zealand, the short-tail stingray was common in shallow coastal waters.
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