Stingray
Dasyatis pastinaca · Rays and skates
Also called sting ray
The only true stingray regularly seen in UK waters, with a venomous barbed spine on its tail. Recorded mainly around the south and west coasts.[1]
How to recognise it
- A long whip-like tail, about one and a half times the body length, with a large barbed spine near the base. Skates and other rays do not have this.[1]
- No dorsal fins. The back is grey, brown or olive and smooth, and the belly is white with a dark margin.[1]
- Rounded, triangular body with a pointed snout. Older fish may have a row of blunt thorns on the back.[2]
When and where
- Season
- May–Aug[2]
- Found over
- sand, mud, light shingle, estuary[1]
- Baits
- ragworm, peeler crab, mackerel strip, squid, cuttlefish[2]
Mainly late spring and summer, when the sea is warmest, and best in warm, settled weather from the shore.[2]
Sources
These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.