Atlantic Stingray

Range/Geographical Distribution: The western Atlantic from the Chesapeake Bay to southern Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat: Inhabits coastal waters, including estuaries, lagoons, and rivers and may enter freshwater.

Description: Brown/yellow disk-shaped body with a whip-like tale containing one venomous barbed spine near the base. The underside is pale and the nose is pointed. 

Size: Up to two feet in diameter.

Food: Digs holes in the sand to find tube anemones, polychaete worms, crustaceans, clams, and serpent stars; faces into the current to feed, allowing the sediment to be washed away. 

Breeding: Ovoviviparous. Breed from October to March and gives birth to up to four young from mid to late summer.

Predators: Alligators and large sharks including the bull shark, the great white shark, and the tiger shark.

Conservation Status: Listed as least concern by the IUCN.

Interesting Facts: Atlantic stingrays prefer waters warmer than 59˚F and are euryhaline, meaning that they can maintain adequate physiological functions at different salinity levels.

On the Coast: Stingrays are common fish along the Georgia coast.  When walking along the shallow waters of the beach one should do the “stingray shuffle” to help scare off any nearby rays and avoid being stung by accident.