Bleeker's variegated whipray

Description

The honeycomb whipray has a diamond-shaped,rather thin pectoral fin disc slightly wider than long,with broadly rounded outer corners and concave leading margins converging on a pointed,protruding snout.The eyes are small and immediately followed by much larger spiracles.There is a skirt-shaped flap of skin with a finely fringed posterior margin between the long,narrow nostrils.The mouth is strongly bow-shaped,with shallow furrows at the corners,and contains a pair of papillae (nipple-shaped structures) on the floor.The teeth are small and have a low,transverse ridge on the crown.The pelvic fins are small and roughly triangular.The tail is thin and whip-like,measuring about twice as long as the disc,and lacks fin folds.Usually a single serrated,stinging spine is placed on the dorsal surface,relatively close to the tail base.Adults have a broad band of small,flattened dermal denticles running centrally from before the eyes,over the back,onto the tail.At the center of the disc,there is an enlarged,round "pearl" denticle trailed by 2–3 smaller thorns along the midline;there are no enlarged denticles on the base of the tail.Newborns have large,well-spaced dark spots covering the disc.With age,the dorsal coloration becomes a honeycomb-like pattern of large,nearly black rings (ocelli) and reticulations,that are separated from each other by thin yellow lines.he tail is covered by alternating dark and light bands or other markings past the sting.The underside is white.This species has been reported to a disc width of 1.3 m (4.3 ft)