Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina
Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina, Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Tampa, Florida, March 2018. Disc length: 33 cm (13 inches). Weight: 1.8 kg (4.0 lbs). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina. Fish caught from coastal waters off Apollo Beach, Tampa Bay, Florida, March 2016, by spearfishing. Disc lengths up to 37 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Note: the tails of three of the pictured fish were significantly shortened upon collection perhaps by commercial fishermen who had caught these fish previously. Fish caught for use as bait targeting the Atlantic Giant Grouper.
Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina. Fish caught from coastal waters within the Cooper River Estuary, Charleston, South Carolina, June 2011. Total Length: 70 cm (28 inches); Disc Width: 41 cm (16 inches); Disc Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Tail: 37 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina. Fish caught from within the Sebastian Inlet, Micco, Florida, March 2021. Total Length: 70 cm (28 inches); Disc Width: 41 cm (16 inches); Disc Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Tail: 37 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.
Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina. Fish caught off the Tybee Beach Pier, Tybee, Georgia, July 2020. Total Length: 70 cm (28 inches); Disc Width: 41 cm (16 inches); Disc Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Tail: 37 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina. Fish caught off the Tybee Beach Pier, Tybee, Georgia, July 2020. Total Length: 70 cm (28 inches); Disc Width: 41 cm (16 inches); Disc Length: 33 cm (13 inches). Tail: 37 cm (15 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Atlantic Stingray, Hypanus sabina, is a member in the Whiptail Stringray or Dasyatidae Family, that is known in Mexico as raya látigo de espina. This fish has very recently been reclassified from Dasyatis sabina. Globally, there are thirty-eight species in the genus Hypanus, of which five are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific Ocean.
The Atlantic Stingray has an oval body. Their disc resembles a spade and is slightly wider than it is long with concave front margins and rounded corners. They are brown dorsally with lighter coloration towards the margins of their disc. They have a yellowish-brown snout tip and yellowish tail folds. They are off-white ventrally. Some fish have a dark stripe along their midline. Larger fish have gray flecks near their tail base and are completely dark toward their tip. They have flattened pectoral fins that are continuous and extend from their head to their tail base. Their head is slightly elevated and has an elongated triangular snout with small eyes and spiracles dorsally and a mouth and gills ventrally. Mature fish have a row of spines along their back and larger females have spines around their eyes and spiracles. They have a long tapered tail with a low dorsal keel and a low short ventral keel; their tail is slightly longer than disc length with an oval cross-section that is whip-like. Their tail has a venomous spine mid-length that can measure up to 10 cm (4.0 inches) in length.
The Atlantic Stingrays are an unusual species being found in both fresh and saltwater environments. They are found in waters above 15oC (59oF) and below 30oC (86oF) and make seasonal migrations when water temperatures move out of this range. When inshore they are found in shallow water at depths up to 20 feet; offshore they can be found at depths up to 80 feet. They reside within sand or silt/sand seabeds normally half submerged looking for prey or predators. They are one of the smallest stingrays with a maximum of 61 cm (24 inches) in total length and 7.4 kg (16 lbs) in weight (documented by the fish below). Males are larger than females with disc width up to 37 cm (15 inches) and females up to 33 cm (13 inches). As of January 1, 2023, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 7.40 kg (16 lbs 5 oz) with the fish caught from the Pamunkey River, Virginia in September 2022. They feed on benthic invertebrates including amphipods, bivalves, clams, crustaceans and nereid worms, which they locate via electroreception utilizing rows of sensory cells known as “Ampullae of Lorenzini” that locate the weak electric fields generated by prey, including buried prey. They are preyed upon by various sharks, including the Bull Shark and the Tiger Shark, and by Atlantic Giant Groupers; in fresh water they are preyed upon by American Alligators. They are a dimorphic species with females being larger and having longer tail spines than males; females also have denticles around their eyes while males have claspers and larger teeth than females. Reproduction occurs via aplacental viviparity with internal fertilization. Males develop elongated teeth during mating season which they use to bite and hold on to females during copulation. Embryos are sustained by a yolk sac for the initial sixty days after which they are nourished by uterine milk secreted by their mother. After gestation periods of four to five months one to four miniature adults are born with disc widths of 10.0 cm (3.9 inches) to 13.0 cm (5.1 inches).
The Atlantic Stringray is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean being found throughout the Gulf of Mexico; they are absent from along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.
The Atlantic Stringray can be distinguished from other stingrays found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean by its small stature and elongated snout.
From a conservation perspective the Atlantic Stingray is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Their primary threat is habitat destruction related to water quality declines due to pollution. They are caught in large numbers as a by-catch by gill netters targeting flounder and are normally released unharmed. They are not of interest to humans other than on a limited basis in the aquarium trade. When encountered in the wild they are not aggressive but will use their venomous tail spines if startled or stepped on inflicting very painful wounds that are not life-threatening. There is currently on-going biomedical and neurobiological research evaluating the potential of their venom for human applications.