Whitespotted whipray

The whitespotted whipray or sharpnose stingray (Maculabatis gerrardi) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. It is found in coastal regions including estuaries, in the Indo-Pacific, and has also been recorded in the Ganges River.^[2] It reaches a maximum disc width of 2 m (6.6 ft). As presently defined, it is probably a species complex.^[3]

Whitespotted whipray
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Myliobatiformes
Family:	Dasyatidae
Genus:	Maculabatis
Species:	M. gerrardi
Binomial name
Maculabatis gerrardi (Gray, 1851)
Synonyms
Trygon gerrardi J. E. Gray, 1851 Trygon macrurus Bleeker, 1852 Dasyatis gerrardi (Gray, 1851) Himantura gerrardi (Gray, 1851) Himantura gerrardii (Gray, 1851) Trygon liocephalus Klunzinger, 1871

Etymology

The Stingray is named in honor of Edward Gerrard (1810-1910), a taxidermist at the British Museum of Natural History, who with his shark and ray identifications assisted Gray.^[4]