Atlantic Stingray

One of the smallest stingray species, the Atlantic stingray attains a maximum length of 61 cm (24 in) and a weight of 4.9 kg (11 lb). It has a spade-shaped pectoral fin disk 1.1 times as wide as long, with rounded corners and concave anterior margins. The snout is relatively long. There are three stout papillae on the floor of the mouth; the teeth are rounded, with a flat, blunt surface. During the reproductive season, the teeth of mature males change to feature long, sharp cusps that curve towards the corners of the mouth, for gripping onto females during mating. The tail is long and whip-like, with a serrated spine measuring a quarter of the width of the disk. The spine is replaced annually between June and October. Dorsal and ventral fin folds are present on the tail.

The Atlantic Stingray is found in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Chesapeake Bay southward to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, to as far as Campeche, Mexico. Records of this species from Grenada, Suriname, and Brazil are doubtful and may represent other species. The Atlantic stingray is capable of tolerating varying salinities and can enter freshwater; it has been reported from the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, Winyah Bay, and the St. Johns River in Florida. The stingrays in the St. Johns River system represent the only permanent freshwater elasmobranch population in North America.

The Atlantic stingray feeds mostly on benthic invertebrates such as bivalves, tube anemones, amphipods, crustaceans, and nereid worms, which they locate using their electroreceptive ampullae of Lorenzini. The exact composition of their diet varies by geographical location. When feeding, these rays will position themselves facing the current so that the sediment will be washed away. Numerous species of sharks, such as the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) and the bull shark (Carcharhinas leucas), are major predators of the Atlantic stingray. In freshwater habitats, they may be preyed upon by American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). A known parasite of freshwater Atlantic stingrays is Argulus, a fish louse that feeds on skin mucus.

If stepped on, the Atlantic stingray can inflict a painful, though rarely life-threatening wound. Large numbers of Atlantic stingrays are caught as bycatch in gillnets targeting flounder off North Carolina, but most are released alive. They are also caught as bycatch in small numbers in recreational and commercial trout gillnets, shark drift nets, and nearshore trawls. As there is no fishery targeting this species and bycatch mortality appears to be low, it was assessed as of Least Concern by the World Conservation Union. However, some localized freshwater populations have shown reduced health and reproduction due to declining water quality.