Whitespotted eagle ray
Aetobatus ocellatus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
A dark diamond-winged ray spotted and ringed in white, with a duck-bill snout for digging and a tail twice the length of its body. It flies rather than swims, usually in open water just off the sand, and the spines at the base of that tail are venomous.
how to recognise it
- white spots and rings on a dark greenish-grey to almost blackish back, and a white underside
- a broad flattened diamond-shaped disc with a flattened duck-bill snout
- five gill slits on the UNDERSIDE
- a long tail armed with venomous spines
don’t confuse with
- Oceanic manta — the manta is far larger, blackish, with long head fins either side of a mouth at the front of its head and a tail with no spine
- Eastern shovelnose ray — the shovelnose ray is a sandy bottom-dweller with a pointed snout and no white spots
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 153 cm TL.
facts
- habitat
- sand
- size
- ~150 cm, to 153 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (153 cm TL); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records near here
- 3 at 1 of 6 spots
A count of occurrence records near these spots, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
no QLD rule listed — check before you dive
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.