The Stingrays are very common in the North Island of New
Zealand and not so common in the South Island. There are different variations
of stingrays, these being the short tail sting ray, eagle ray and the electric
ray.
The stingray is a brownish-grey colour and grows to about 1.5 - 2 metres across and can weigh 200 kg or more.
They are all virtually the same to look at with having a diamond shaped body, and it's wings extend right to the tip of it's body. It's tail is slightly shorter than it's body in length and is quite thick, and it can have one or more pointed bards at the base of the tail with saw-edged,venomous spines. . The rest of the tail resembles a rose bush stalk, with small spines or prickles all over the rest of the length.
The sting ray swims by flapping it's wings much the same as a bird. They have flat teeth and feed on small crustations such as crabs and shellfish. Although they are bottom feeders, sting rays and eagle rays frequently swim near the surface.
The sting ray can normally be found on soft sandy or muddy bottoms in estuaries, lagoons,and often lie partially buried in the shallows. However they can be found in deeper water up to 100 metres, and over rocky reefs.
The sting ray young are born alive and resemble the adults perfectly but are about 100 cm long.
The EAGLE RAY looks much the same as the sting ray but it's wings are more pointed and the head extends forward of the point and is thicker and raised. It does not grow as big being around 1.5 metres across, and the tail is longer and quite whippy.