Info
Himantura undulata is a stingray, widespread in the Indo-Pacific you can find him near the coast on the continental shelf , mostly on soft and sandy soil. They are found from the Bay of Bengal north to the Ryukyu Islands, New Guinea and the Torres Strait, south to the coast of northern Australia.
Himantura undulata has a diamond-shaped body which can reach a size (diameter) of about 1,5 m. From head to tail, he often reaches a total length of approximately 4.5 m. On top of tail he has, like all Stingrays a venomous spine, but no dorsal fin. Body and tail of adult specimens are yellowish or brownish with a leopard similar pattern. Himantura undulata is ovoviviparous.
This species is captured by demersal tangle net, bottom trawl and, to a lesser extent, longline fisheries in Indonesia and across large parts of its range. Its inshore distribution overlaps with coastal artisanal and commercial fisheries throughout large areas of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
If you want to find out about the size of rays in specialist literature, usually written in English, you will often come across two abbreviations that ultimately mean the same thing: DW or WD.
If you look at FishBase, WoRMS or first descriptions of rays, you will find these abbreviations.
The total length including shoal is only rarely given, the TL.
Saw rays are bottom-dwelling, elongated rays with a long, toothed rostrum (saw) that can grow up to 170 cm long.
With the help of this “saw”, the ray stirs around in the seabed to flush out bottom-dwelling invertebrates and then eat them.
Caution:
Please do not touch or disturb a saw ray under any circumstances, as it can easily inflict deep and bleeding wounds on people's arms and legs with its saw.
Blood in the sea also very quickly attracts sharks, which can inflict far greater injuries on the injured person, in the worst case even death.