Fish Identification Photos: Concentric Stingray, Urobatis concentricus: The Concentric Stingray adapts well to its living environment and thus varies in color from gray to tan with darker lines, blotches, and spots arranged in concentric rows on the disk.

The disk of the Concentric Stingray is longer than it is wide and has fairly straight front side margins with a rounded snout. The tail, with two notable appendages, is approximately one-half the length of the disk. The Concentric Stingray has rounded tail fins and very smooth skin without denticles or thorns. The “stingers” are impressive (as pictured below) approximately 1 inch in length. The Concentric Stingray can be confused with the Haller’s Round Ray, Urobatis halleri (dense dark brown spots with circular markings), and the Spotted Stingray, Urobatis maculates (spots and blotches well away from the margin of the disk).

The Concentric Stingray is a member of the Myliobatiformes or Stingray Order, Urolophidae or Round Ray Family and Urobatis Genus. Globally there are a total of 178 species of Myliobatiformes, 40 species of the Urolophidae Family of which 12 are found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and 5 species of Urobatis Genus of which 4 are found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The Stingrays are very similar to the Round Rays, characterized by an oval or near circular disc profile with pectorals that are continuous with the sides of the head. They have slender tails that are equal in length or shorter than the length of the disc and large venomous spines. Most species of this family are bottom-dwellers, found in shallow coastal waters, that feed on buried mollusks and crustaceans. Caution: Rays of the Genus Urobatis have tails with a very venomous spine. These rays are potentially dangerous as they can inflict wounds with intense pain and slow recovery.

The Concentric Stingray can reach a maximum size of just over 1.5 feet in length and just under 1 foot wide. It is found in the first 100 feet of the water column over rubble and adjacent to reefs. The Concentric Stingray stirs the bottom with its pectoral fins in order to dislodge small crustaceans, small fish, mussels, and worms on which it feeds.

The Concentric Stingray has a broad distribution in Mexican waters and is found along the Pacific side of Baja California south of Guerrero Negro, throughout the Sea of Cortez, and along the Mexican Pacific coast of the mainland to Acapulco; it appears to be absent from the oceanic islands.

Concentric Stingray, Urobatis concentricus: Caught from shore in June 2005, utilizing 15-pound test and a fish finder rig, 0.5-ounce sinker, and Mustad 92553 hooks, size #6, on cut squid, at Km. 26 (Cabo Colorado) between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur., Mexico. Size approximately 15 inches and surprisingly “meaty.” Photos courtesy Carol Snow. Species identification confirmed by Dr. Ross Robertson.