{{Short description|Family of cartilaginous fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Eagle ray | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|100.5|0}} Late Cretaceous to Recent<ref name=FB/> | image = Manta ray parking bay @ Ocean%C3%A1rio de Lisboa.jpg | image_caption = Bull ray (''Aetomylaeus bovinus'') | taxon = Myliobatidae | authority = Bonaparte, 1838 | display_parents = 2 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = * ''Aetomylaeus'' * ''Myliobatis'' }}
The '''eagle rays''' are a group of cartilaginous fishes in the family '''Myliobatidae''', consisting mostly of large species living in the open ocean rather than on the sea bottom.
Eagle rays feed on mollusks and crustaceans, crushing their shells with their flattened teeth. They are excellent swimmers and are able to breach the water up to several meters above the surface. Compared with other rays, they have long tails and well-defined, rhomboidal bodies. They are ovoviviparous, giving birth to up to six young at a time. They range from {{convert|0.48|to|5.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and 7 m (23 ft) in wingspan.<ref name=FB>{{cite web |last1=Froese |first1=R. |last2=D. |first2=Pauly |title=FAMILY Details for Myliobatidae - Eagle and manta rays |website=FishBase |publisher=World Wide Web electronic publication |url=http://www.fishbase.org/summary/FamilySummary.php?ID=22 |access-date=15 August 2005}}</ref>
==Classification== Nelson's book ''Fishes of the World'' treats cownose rays, mantas, and devil rays as subfamilies in the Myliobatidae, but most authors (including William Toby White) have preferred to leave the Rhinopteridae and Mobulidae outside of the Myliobatidae.<ref name=White2014>{{cite journal |last=White |first=W. T. |date=2014 |title=A revised generic arrangement for the eagle ray family Myliobatidae, with definitions for the valid genera |journal=Zootaxa |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3860.2.3 |volume=3860 |number=2 |pages=149–166| pmid = 25283197 }}</ref> White (2014) retained three genera (''Aetobatus'', ''Aetomylaeus'', and ''Myliobatis'') in the Myliobatidae, while a fourth (''Pteromylaeus'') was synonymized with ''Aetomylaeus''.<ref name=White2014/> A 2016 paper placed ''Aetobatus'' in its own family, the Aetobatidae.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=White |first1=W. T. |last2=Naylor |first2=G. J. P. |date=2016 |title=Resurrection of the family Aetobatidae (Myliobatiformes) for the pelagic eagle rays, genus ''Aetobatus'' |journal=Zootaxa |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4139.3.10 |volume=4139 |number=3 |pages=435–438|pmid=27470816 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Species !! Description |- |175px || ''Aetomylaeus'' {{small|Garman, 1908}} || * ''Aetomylaeus asperrimus'' <small>(C. H. Gilbert, 1898)</small> (rough eagle ray)<ref name=White2014/> * ''Aetomylaeus bovinus'' <small>(É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817)</small> (bull ray) <ref name=White2014/> * ''Aetomylaeus caeruleofasciatus'' <small>W. T. White, Last & Baje, 2015</small> (blue-banded eagle ray)<ref name=White2015/> * ''Aetomylaeus maculatus'' <small>(J. E. Gray, 1834)</small> (mottled eagle ray) * ''Aetomylaeus milvus'' <small>(J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841)</small> (smooth eagle ray) * ''Aetomylaeus narinari'' <small>(B. A. Euphrasén, 1790)</small> (spotted eagle ray) * ''Aetomylaeus nichofii'' <small>(Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801)</small> (banded eagle ray) * ''Aetomylaeus vespertilio'' <small>(Bleeker, 1852)</small> (ornate eagle ray) * ''Aetomylaeus wafickii <small>(Jabado, Ebert, & Al Dhaheri, 2022)</small> (Wafic's eagle ray)''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aetomylaeus wafickii summary page |url=https://www.fishbase.us/summary/Aetomylaeus-wafickii.html |access-date=2026-01-24 |website=FishBase |language=en}}</ref> ||This obscure genus is distributed in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. These rays were named because they lack a stinger on the tail.<ref name=White2014/> |- |175px || ''Myliobatis'' {{small| Cuvier, 1816}} || * ''Myliobatis aquila'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> (common eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis californica'' <small>T. N. Gill, 1865</small> (bat eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis chilensis'' <small>Philippi {Krumweide}, 1893</small> (Chilean eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis freminvillei'' <small>Lesueur, 1824</small> (bullnose eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis goodei'' <small>Garman, 1885</small> (southern eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis hamlyni'' <small>J. D. Ogilby, 1911</small> (purple eagle ray)<ref name=White2015>{{cite journal | last1 = White | first1 = W.T. | last2 = Kawauchi | first2 = J. | last3 = Corrigan | first3 = S. | last4 = Rochel | first4 = E. | last5 = Naylor | first5 = G.J.P. | year = 2015 | title = Redescription of the eagle rays ''Myliobatis hamlyni'' Ogilby, 1911 and ''M. tobijei'' Bleeker, 1854 (Myliobatiformes: Myliobatidae) from the East Indo-West Pacific | journal = Zootaxa | volume = 3948 | issue = 3| pages = 521–548 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3948.3.7| pmid = 25947786 }}</ref> * ''Myliobatis longirostris'' <small>Applegate & Fitch, 1964</small> (snouted eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis peruvianus'' <small>Garman, 1913</small> (Peruvian eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis ridens'' <small>Ruocco, Lucifora, Díaz de Astarloa, Mabragaña & Delpiani, 2012</small> (shortnose eagle ray) * ''Myliobatis tenuicaudatus'' <small>Hector, 1877</small> (Australian/New Zealand eagle ray) – ''M. australis'' a junior synonym * ''Myliobatis tobijei'' <small>Bleeker, 1854</small> (Japanese eagle ray)<ref name=White2015/> ||The common eagle ray, ''M. aquila'', is distributed throughout the Eastern Atlantic, including the Mediterranean Sea, and the North Sea. Another important species is the bat eagle ray, ''M. californica'', in the Pacific Ocean. These rays can grow extremely large, up to {{convert|1.8|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} including the tail. The tail looks like a whip and may be as long as the body, and is armed with a stinger. Eagle rays live close to the coast in depths of {{convert|1|to|30|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and in exceptional cases, they are found as deep as {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The eagle ray is most commonly seen cruising along sandy beaches in very shallow waters, its two wings sometimes breaking the surface and giving the impression of two sharks traveling together. |- |}
==See also== * Stingray injury * List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6629661}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Eagle rays Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Category:Extant Cenomanian first appearances