The purple eagle ray (''Myliobatis hamlyni'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of fish in the family Myliobatidae. It was formerly considered

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Australia but is now known to be more widespread. Its natural habitat is the open seas where it has a patchy distribution, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

as being "

near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

Taxonomy

The purple eagle ray was first described in 1911 by the Australian

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

James Douglas Ogilby James Douglas Ogilby (16 February 1853 – 11 August 1925) was an Australian ichthyologist and herpetologist. Ogilby was born in Belfast, Ireland, and was the son of zoologist William Ogilby and his wife Adelaide, née Douglas. He received h ...

as ''Myliobatis hamlyni'', being named in honour of his friend, the

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Ronald Hamlyn-Harris Dr Ronald Hamlyn-Harris (1 September 1874 – 1953) was an English-born entomologist who spent most of his working life in Australia. Following seven years teaching science at Toowoomba Grammar School in Queensland he became Director of the Queen ...

, who was director of the

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist mu ...

from 1910 to 1917. This eagle ray was originally thought to be

to eastern Australia, with other records from the region being ascribed to the closely related Japanese eagle ray (''Myliobatis tobijei''). However a redescription of both species in 2016, including a

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

analysis, indicated that previous records from Western Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan most likely referred to the purple eagle ray rather than the Japanese eagle ray.

Description

The purple eagle ray is a medium-sized species. The disc is diamond-shaped and the

pectoral fins Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

are very large and wing-like, the front edge being straight or slightly convex. The slender,

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

-like tail has one or two long stinging spines at its base and has a distinctive fold on its

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

surface. There are seven rows of teeth in each jaw, the central one being the largest. An averaged sized adult has a disc-width of , a length of and a tail of . The largest males in Indonesia had a disc width of , while the females a disc width of . The dorsal surface is a uniform purplish-brown or greenish-brown without dark spotting, and the ventral surface is whitish.

Distribution and habitat

This fish occurs in the tropical and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

west Pacific Ocean; its exact range is unclear but includes Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Okinawa (Japan). It is a deep-water species with a patchy distribution and is rarely brought to the surface with

fishing gear Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/ lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/ feeders, nets, stringers/ ke ...

. Its habitat is the

open sea The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

, mostly the

outer continental shelf The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a feature of the geography of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U. ...

and the upper part of the

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margin ...

at depths of between .

Status

Fishing is the greatest

threat A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...

to the species, but it is only in Australia and Taiwan that it is often seen among the catch; in Indonesia and other areas, fishing pressure on this fish is relatively low. Overall, the

has assessed its conservation status as being "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2699804 purple eagle ray Fish of Taiwan Fish of the Philippines Fauna of Queensland Marine fish of Western Australia purple eagle ray Taxa named by James Douglas Ogilby Taxonomy articles created by Polbot