Common Stingray
Dasyatis pastinaca
Sighting evidence at Garajau Natural Reserve, Madeira
Photo: Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC
Common stingrays at Garajau spend daylight hours partially buried in sand patches and gravelly lanes between basalt outcrops at depths of 8 to 20 metres, their disc-shaped bodies perfectly camouflaged against the substrate and visible mainly by the outline their presence creates in the sand. They are mesopredators of bivalves, crustaceans, and small fish, using a powerful jaw-plate mechanism to crush hard-shelled prey, and their feeding activity aerates and bioturbates the sediment in ways that benefit filter-feeding invertebrates living immediately beneath the surface. Female stingrays are noticeably larger than males and have been observed returning to the same sand patches across multiple seasons, suggesting strong site fidelity within the reserve.
Evidence at this site
No confirmed records on file at this site
Common Stingray is listed as a curated species here based on historical reports.