---
title: "What the sources say about the Southern Stingray | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "52 claims from the Southern Stingray profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/southern-stingray-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/southern-stingray/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Southern Stingray (*Hypanus americanus*)

> 52 claims from the Southern Stingray profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Southern Stingray](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/southern-stingray/)

## Carlson et al. (2020). Hypanus americanus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T181244884A104123787.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2020-3.rlts.t181244884a104123787.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Near Threatened | IUCN Red List category: Near Threatened (NT). (note: stats.conservationStatus and body; category read through GBIF's copy of the Red List (assessed 2019)) |

## Southern Stingray (Hypanus americanus). Florida Museum of Natural History, Discover Fishes.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/dasyatis-americana/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Its raised head has spiracles that let it take in water while it lies on the seabed | The head is elevated and contains spiracles that enable the ray to take in water dorsally while lying on the seabed. |
| The disc is diamond-shaped | The disc of H. americanus is diamond-shaped (note: body) |
| about 1.2 times as broad as it is long | The disc is approximately 1.2 times as broad as it is long. |
| The tail can be up to twice as long as the body | The tail, measured from the cloaca to the tip, can reach lengths twice as long as the body measured from cloaca to the tip of snout. |
| with 52 to 80 teeth on either side | The spine is round, but slightly flattened dorsoventrally with 52-80 teeth on either side. |
| The southern stingray is a non-aggressive animal, posing little threat to humans, but it uses its spine in defense when stepped on | The southern stingray is a non-aggressive animal, posing little threat to humans. However, when stepped on, the ray will use its spine in defense. (note: blockquote and FAQ) |
| the Florida Museum notes that its average lifespan is poorly known | Little is known about its average life span and growth rate. (note: FAQ 4) |
| have also been seen visiting cleaner wrasse cleaning stations, for periods of 1 to 26 minutes | H. americanus has been observed visiting cleaner wrasse cleaning stations for periods of time ranging from 1-26 minutes. |
| most abundant near Florida and the Bahamas | It is most abundant near Florida and the Bahamas. |
| Litters hold 2 to 10 pups, with an average of 4 | litter sizes range from 2-10 pups, with an average of 4 pups per litter |
| a gestation of 4 to 11 months | Gestation takes 4-11 months |
| describes it as non-aggressive and of little threat to people | The southern stingray is a non-aggressive animal, posing little threat to humans. (note: FAQ 3) |
| when someone steps on one: the ray then defends itself with its spine | when stepped on, the ray will use its spine in defense (note: FAQ 3) |
| the flattened fins that form its disc | The flattened pectoral fins form a disc |
| the Florida Museum says little is known about its average lifespan | Little is known about its average life span and growth rate. |

## Hypanus americanus summary page. FishBase.

https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Hypanus-americanus.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Sandy bottoms, seagrass beds and lagoons | Found on sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, lagoons and the reef face (note: stats.habitat) |
| from New Jersey to southern Brazil | Western Atlantic: New Jersey, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil, including the Antilles (note: stats.habitat; range in body) |
| Mainly bivalves and worms, plus shrimps, crabs and small fishes | Feeds mainly on bivalves and worms and also takes shrimps, crabs and small fishes (note: stats.diet; body) |
| The oldest age FishBase reports is 28 years | max. reported age: 28 years (note: FAQ 4) |
| at depths from 0 to 53 m | depth range 0 - 53 m |
| as assessed in 2019 | Near Threatened (NT) (A2bd); Date assessed: 21 June 2019 |
| It eats mostly bivalves and worms, along with shrimps, crabs and small fishes | Feeds mainly on bivalves and worms and also takes shrimps, crabs and small fishes |
| a typical one is about 90 cm wide | common length : 90.0 cm WD male/unsexed (note: FAQ 1) |
| the biggest reach 200 cm | Max length : 200 cm WD male/unsexed (note: FAQ 1; 'biggest'/'heaviest' paraphrase FishBase's 'Max'/'max.') |
| The heaviest on record in FishBase weighed 135.6 kg | max. published weight: 135.6 kg (note: FAQ 1; preferred to the Florida Museum's 97 kg, which is from an older page; 'biggest'/'heaviest' paraphrase FishBase's 'Max'/'max.') |
| FishBase gives a maximum disc width of 200 cm | Max length : 200 cm WD male/unsexed |
| a common width of 90 cm | common length : 90.0 cm WD male/unsexed |
| its heaviest published weight is 135.6 kg | max. published weight: 135.6 kg (note: Florida Museum and ADW give 97 kg; FishBase is the maintained page (Red List version 2025-2) and records a heavier published fish; 'biggest'/'heaviest' paraphrase FishBase's 'Max'/'max.') |
| from New Jersey and the northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil, including the Antilles | Western Atlantic: New Jersey, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to southern Brazil, including the Antilles (note: body range) |
| FishBase lists 28 years as the oldest reported age | max. reported age: 28 years |

## Dasyatis americana (kit). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dasyatis_americana/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A diamond-shaped digger that flaps its fins to uncover prey | excavate their prey by flapping the pectoral fins and jetting water from the mouth to disturb the substrate and uncover their (usually) buried prey (note: tagline; 'usually' in the quote qualifies 'buried', not the flapping) |
| and finds it by its electric field | allow them to sense electrical field produced by buried prey (note: tagline) |
| Thousands of electrical sensors on its underside detect the electric field of prey buried in the sand | They also possess thousands of Ampullae of Lorenzini on their undersides, particularly concentrated around the head, which allow them to sense electrical field produced by buried prey (note: stats.superpower; body and FAQ) |
| It flaps its pectoral fins | excavate their prey by flapping the pectoral fins and jetting water from the mouth to disturb the substrate and uncover their (usually) buried prey (note: 'usually' in the quote qualifies 'buried', not the flapping) |
| Its eyes sit on top of its head and are likely used to spot predators rather than food | The eyes of southern stingrays are not likely to be useful in sensing prey, being placed on top of the head. However, they are still rather large and well-developed and are likely used to sense predators |
| In shallow water, double-crested cormorants dive in and swim behind it to feed on the snappers and grunts it disturbs | The birds dive in and swim behind the stingrays to feed on snappers and grunts, though this is only possible in shallow waters. (note: 'though this is only possible in shallow waters' restored by the reviewer) |
| Great hammerhead sharks are a predator, and the shape of their heads helps them hold a stingray down | The shape of this shark’s head enables it to hold down stingrays while feeding on them. |
| It often hides from predators by burying itself in the sand | Stingrays will often bury themselves in the sand to avoid detection by predators |
| jets water from its mouth to disturb the sand and uncover prey that is usually buried | excavate their prey by flapping the pectoral fins and jetting water from the mouth to disturb the substrate and uncover their (usually) buried prey |
| thousands of ampullae of Lorenzini, sensors on its underside, concentrated around the head, that pick up the electric field of buried animals | They also possess thousands of Ampullae of Lorenzini on their undersides, particularly concentrated around the head, which allow them to sense electrical field produced by buried prey |
| thousands of sensors called ampullae of Lorenzini on its underside | They also possess thousands of Ampullae of Lorenzini on their undersides, particularly concentrated around the head, which allow them to sense electrical field produced by buried prey (note: FAQ 2) |
| It senses the electrical field that buried prey gives off | sense electrical field produced by buried prey (note: FAQ 2) |
| Sight is unlikely to help it find that prey | The eyes of southern stingrays are not likely to be useful in sensing prey, being placed on top of the head. |
| it carries a sharp, venomous spine | carries a sharp, serrated, venomous spine that is used in defense |
| The southern stingray hunts by excavating | They are generally nocturnal, benthic predators that excavate their prey (note: 'generally' in the quote qualifies 'nocturnal'; excavating is how they hunt) |
| A digging stingray often stirs up more than its own meal | As stingrays excavate the substrate in search of prey, they often stir up fish. |
| Spine for defense | carries a sharp, serrated, venomous spine that is used in defense (note: blockquote lead) |
| finds buried prey by its weak electric field, using thousands of sensors on its underside | They also possess thousands of Ampullae of Lorenzini on their undersides, particularly concentrated around the head, which allow them to sense electrical field produced by buried prey (note: vibe.reason) |
| tags: electroreception | They also possess thousands of Ampullae of Lorenzini on their undersides, particularly concentrated around the head, which allow them to sense electrical field produced by buried prey (note: task #1267: matches the tag's definition (ampullary pores sensing buried prey)) |

## Mickle, Pieniazek & Higgs (2020). Field assessment of behavioural responses of southern stingrays (Hypanus americanus) to acoustic stimuli. Royal Society Open Science.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.191544

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| females tested with low tones of 50 to 500 Hz changed their swimming at 140 dB, while males did not change until 160 dB | female stingrays exposed to tones (50–500 Hz) exhibit significant changes in swimming behaviours (increased time spent swimming, decreased rest time, increased surface breaches and increased side swimming with pectoral flapping) at 140 dB re 1 µPa (−2.08 to −2.40 dB re 1 m s −2 ) while males exposed to the same tones did not exhibit a change in these behaviours until 160 dB re 1 µPa |
| Sound matters to it too | show a distinct sensitivity to low-frequency acoustic inputs |