Marine life  /  Sharks & rays  /  Cownose ray
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Species entry

Cownose ray

Rhinoptera bonasus

A brown ray with a deeply notched snout, travelling in schools over open sand rather than singly.

Size
To 110 cm
Depth
2–25 m
Habitat
Open sand and mid-water, in schools
Active
Day and night
Range
Western Atlantic
Rarity
Florida
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
SP-01
cownose ray · full body · habitat
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To about 1.1 m across the disc, brown above and pale below, with the same notched snout as the golden cownose ray and the same schooling habit. It is the western Atlantic species.

Schools move along the coast seasonally in very large numbers, and a diver in Florida is more likely to see one from a boat than on a dive. On the bottom it digs for shellfish by flapping the disc to blow sand clear. Venomous barb, used only in defence.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Florida United States editorial estimate
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Year-round
2–25 m
Open sand and mid-water, in schools
Bahamas Bahamas editorial estimate
5 stars of 5, a handful of records
Year-round
2–25 m
Sand flats
Cayman Islands Cayman Islands editorial estimate
5 stars of 5, a handful of records
Year-round
2–25 m
Sand flats

Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.

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