Leopard Whipray Himantura leoparda

The Leopard Whipray is native to tropical sandy coasts, reefs and estuaries of the eastern Indian Ocean through the western Pacific to Japan and Australia. The ray is sometimes confused with the similar-looking Reticulate Whipray of the western Indian Ocean or the Honeycomb Whipray also of the tropical Indo-westPacific.

It is nearly 1.5 metres across and 4 metres long including the whip tail. The underside, like most rays, is mainly white. Upper body colour is light yellowish brown covered in small black leopard-like rosettes. It is vulnerable, being slow to mature and, through much of its range, being heavily-fished for meat, cartilage (traditional medicine) and skin as well as being entangled in nets and lines and being caught through trawling the seabed primarily for other species. Most of those caught are juveniles, impacting further on low reproduction.