Common Stingray Dasyatis pastinaca

The Common Stingray is native to sandy coasts, reefs and estuaries of the northeastern Atlantic including the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Canaries and Azores.

It is usually about half a metre wide but can grow to nearly 1.5 metres wide and 2.5 metres long including its tail. The tail has a venomous spine about a third of the way along.

The underside, like most rays, is mainly white and contains the mouth, giving a ghostly facelike appearance. The pectoral fins (wings) of stingrays join at the snout, unlike those of eagle rays.

Upper body colour is a plain brownish, olive or grey. There are "spiracles" above the eye for breathing when the gills are buried in the sand. Prey includes crustaceans, molluscs, cephalopods and small fish, mostly dregged up from the sand and coralled towards the mouth using the body and fins.