Reticulate Whipray Himantura uarnak

The Reticulate Whipray is native to sandy coasts, reefs and estuaries of the western Indian Ocean, including the Arabian Sea and Red Sea and, via the Suez Canal, a migrant to the southeastern Mediterranean.

A large stingray, it can reach some 2 metres (6 feet) wide and 6 metres (20 feet) long including its extensive whip tail. The tail has a venomous spine not far from its base.

The underside, like most rays, is mainly white. The pectoral fins (wings) of stingrays join at the snout, unlike those of eagle rays.

Upper body colour is light yellowish brown covered in small black spots which develop into leopard-like rosettes. The ray is sometimes called the Honeycomb or Leopard Stingray, which is confusing since two other closely-related and similar-looking species of the Indo-Pacific region are also called the Honeycomb Whipray/Stingray, H. undulata, and the Leopard Whipray/Stingray, H. leoparda.