Spotted eagle ray

How do you identify a spotted eagle ray?

The spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus ocellatus, is the spotted eagle ray of the Indo-Pacific. Until 2010, it was lumped together with the Atlantic species, Aetobatus narinari, from which it has since been split. The disc, diamond-shaped with tapered tips, spans 1.80 meters on average and can reach 3 meters and 200 kilos. The back is dark green to almost black, covered in white dots and rings; the belly is white. The head stands out from the disc and ends in a pointed snout, a bit like a duck's bill, which it uses to dig through the sand. The tail, as thin as a whip, is nearly three times the width of the disc and carries two to six venomous spines at its base: the whole animal, tail included, can exceed 8 meters. It swims by flapping its wings, like a manta, but its outline is slimmer and its spotted back gives it away at once.

How does the spotted eagle ray live?

It lives in tropical coastal waters, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and Polynesia, between 1 and 100 meters, most often around 20 to 25 meters. It feeds on the bottom: hermit crabs, whelks, oysters, clams and large mollusks, crustaceans and octopus, which it digs out of the sand and crushes with teeth fused into plates. You see it alone, in pairs or in small groups, sometimes in larger schools in the channels. It is ovoviviparous: after a gestation of more than a year, the female gives birth to up to ten pups, usually four at most. It matures at around 1.55 meters across, which makes the species slow to recover.

Where and when can you see spotted eagle rays in the Maldives?

In the Maldives, you see it all year round on the thilas and in the current-swept channels, where it comes to feed and get cleaned: Kandooma Thila in South Malé Atoll, Fish Head and Kuda Rah Thila in Ari Atoll, Rasdhoo Madivaru, Banana Reef. It usually passes along the edge of the wall or in open water, a few meters off the reef, and veers away as soon as a diver heads toward it. The right approach is the one for every current site: settle at the edge of the plateau, stay still and watch the blue.

Is the spotted eagle ray endangered?

The spotted eagle ray has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since the 2023 assessment. It is fished for its meat across the Indo-Pacific and caught as bycatch in nets and trawls, even though it breeds slowly. In the Maldives, where manta rays and sharks are protected, it frequents protected sites that are among the most closely watched in the country. Don't chase it, don't touch it, and keep your distance from the tail.