Coach Whipray
Himantura uarnak
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Dasyatidae
- Genus
- Himantura
- Species
- Himantura uarnak
The coach whipray (Himantura uarnak), also called the honeycomb or reticulate whipray, is a large stingray up to about 2 m across. Its pale disc is covered in a dense pattern of dark spots, rings or a honeycomb-like network, and its whip-like tail is many times longer than the body and banded black and white toward the tip.
It lives on sandy and muddy bottoms in lagoons, bays and near reefs, feeding on crabs, shrimps, worms and small fish. The species is listed as Endangered due to fishing and habitat loss.
In the Philippines coach whiprays occur in coastal waters and are occasionally seen by divers resting on sandy areas near reefs or in seagrass beds. Several similar-looking reticulated whiprays occur in the region, so close inspection of the pattern is needed for identification.
Photo: Ewout Knoester, CC BY-SA 4.0, via iNaturalist