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Spotted Eagle Ray | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Spotted Eagle Ray

Aetobatus narinari

ChondrichthyesCoastal bays, lagoons, reef edges and open water over sandEndangered

Field profile

The spotted eagle ray has a pointed snout, a long whip-like tail and a dark disc covered in pale spots and rings. It digs molluscs from sand with its duck-like snout and crushes them with plate-like teeth.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-04-01

Spotted Eagle Ray

The spotted eagle ray was split into three

What was long treated as a single circumtropical ray is now recognised as at least three species separated by ocean basin. The name Aetobatus narinari was retained for the Atlantic animal, leaving decades of Indo-Pacific literature filed under the wrong species.

Read with evidence →