Atlantic Stingray

At a glance

Atlantic Stingray (Hypanus sabinus) is an IUCN Least Concern shark or ray present across the CatchRules coverage area but without species-specific bag, size, or season rules tracked in our regulatory dataset.

Confirmed by 2,056 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Florida, Texas, and South Carolina the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• One of the few marine stingrays that regularly enters freshwater rivers, including Florida's St. Johns River.
• Its disc typically spans about 14 inches across — one of the smaller western Atlantic stingrays.
• Ranges from Chesapeake Bay south through the Gulf of Mexico.
• Females typically give birth to 2–4 live pups after roughly a four-month gestation.
• It forages by fanning the sandy bottom with its fins to expose buried worms and crustaceans.

Where Atlantic Stingray are seen

• Florida692 iNat obs
• Texas336 iNat obs
• South Carolina302 iNat obs
• North Carolina268 iNat obs
• Georgia119 iNat obs
• Alabama112 iNat obs

Background

The Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, common along the Atlantic coast of North America from Chesapeake Bay to Mexico, including brackish and freshwater habitats. It may be distinguished from other stingrays in the area by its relatively elongated snout. This species is of little commercial importance, other than for sale in the aquarium…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Atlantic Stingray article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other sharks & rays on CatchRules

• Atlantic Sharpnose SharkRhizoprionodon terraenovae