Marine life  /  Sharks & rays  /  Eastern shovelnose ray
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Species entry

Eastern shovelnose ray

Aptychotrema rostrata

A long-snouted bottom ray of east coast estuaries and sand flats, half-buried by day.

Size
To 120 cm
Depth
1–30 m
Habitat
Sand and seagrass in east coast estuaries
Active
Day and night
Range
Australia
Rarity
Australia
3 stars of 5, a good week should turn one up
SP-01
eastern shovelnose ray · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

To about 1.2 m, pale sandy brown with a long pointed translucent snout and a shark-like tail. It is a ray, and on east coast Australian sand it is one of the commonest large bottom animals a diver sees.

It lies half-buried in sand and seagrass in estuaries and shallow bays, and it moves off slowly when disturbed rather than bolting. It has no sting: the tail carries no barb, which makes it one of the few large rays a diver can settle next to without thinking about it. It gives birth to live young in the shallows in summer.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Australia Australia editorial estimate
3 stars of 5, a good week should turn one up
Year-round
1–30 m
Sand and seagrass in east coast estuaries

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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