Marine life  /  Sharks & rays  /  Diamond stingray
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Species entry

Diamond stingray

Hypanus dipterurus

The common eastern Pacific stingray, angular rather than round, buried on shallow sand and sometimes in numbers.

Size
To 130 cm
Depth
1–25 m
Habitat
Buried on sand in sheltered bays
Active
Day and night
Range
Eastern Pacific
Rarity
Galapagos Islands
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
SP-01
diamond stingray · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

To about 1 m across the disc, plain grey-brown, angular rather than round, with a row of small thorns along the midline and a long tail. It is the common stingray of eastern Pacific sand flats.

It buries with the eyes and spiracles showing and is often in groups on shallow sand in the Galapagos, sometimes in numbers large enough to cover the bottom. It carries a venomous barb near the tail base and uses it when trodden on, which in the Galapagos means when a person walks into the water from a beach. Shuffle rather than step.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Galapagos Islands Ecuador editorial estimate
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Year-round
1–25 m
Buried on sand in sheltered bays
Islas Revillagigedo Mexico editorial estimate
3 stars of 5, a good week should turn one up
Year-round
5–30 m
Sand pockets between boulders

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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