Spotted stingaree

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 There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters.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:

WHAT'S NEW?

Shark picture - green sawfish

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

Behavior: Buries during the day.

Reproduction: Ovoviviparous.

Observations:

Photographs: Albany, Western Australia.

Similar species: Circular stingaree - Urolophus circularis shares its western range. A rarely encountered species exibiting a distinct pattern of circular spots similar to U. gigas and Urolophus sp. but without their dark bat-shaped patches.

Reaction to divers: The specimen above completely ignored the photographer but this species may be more skittish when encountered in the open.

Diving logistics: Divers usually encounter this species while swimming over sea grass beds. Anywhere in the southern Australian area is probably good for sightings. As I have only encountered this specimen in WA I would like information on common sighting areas further east.

Other diving locations submitted by readers:

References and further reading:

Sharks and Rays of Australia. Peter Last. CSIRO.

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

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