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Not just Shark Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark pictures  and sections on shark evolution, biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:

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ELASMODIVER EXPANDED

If you're looking for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links represent a new area that contains pictures on other marine organisms and on marine habitats. This expansion of Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages on everything from sea stars to nudibranches. Creating this portal will take time and for now it consists of a token offering of fish pictures. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.

FISH PICTURES

COWTAIL STINGRAY

Photograph copyright Andy Murch

Enlarged image

View all available Cowtail Stingray Pictures in the SHARKIVE

Common Names: Cowtail stingray, Feathertail stingray  

Latin Name: Pastinachus sephen  

Family: Dasyatidae  

Identification: Rhomboid disc. Posterior margins of disc mildly convex. Anterior margin almost straight. Dorsum brown to black. Tail less than 2 times body length with broad, long ventral finfold.  

Size: Max disc width 180cm  

Habitat: Estuarine environments and Sandy bottoms sometimes adjacent to reefs from intertidal areas to approx. 50m. Also enters fresh water environments and has been recorded 1000 miles up the Ganges River.  

Abundance and distribution: Widespread throughout the Indo Pacific from South Africa and the Red Sea to Japan and south to Australia and western Pacific.  

Behavior:  Moves onto tidal flats in search of prey. often ascends rivers. Feeds on bony fishes, snails, bivalves, and sea squirts.

Reproduction: Ovoviviparous  

Observations:  

Photographs: Exmouth Navy Pier, W.A.  

Similar species:

Reaction to divers:  Apparently curious. May buzz divers quite closely. Not prone to flight when approached. 

Diving logistics: Cowtail stingrays  are present over a large area accessible to divers but I am not aware of any area where they can be reliably seen.

Other diving locations submitted by readers: 

Further reading:

Reef Sharks and Rays of the World. Scott W. Michael. Sea Challengers.

Sharks and Rays - Elasmobranch Guide of the World. Ralf M. Hennemann. IKAN.

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