Family : Dasyatidae (Stingrays)
Order : Rajiformes  (skates and rays)
Class : Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays)
Fishbase Name : Sharpnose stingray
Fish Name : Himantura gerrardi
Max size : 200 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 9840)
Environment : demersal ; depth range - 50 m
Climate : tropical
Global Importance : fisheries: commercial
Resilience: Very low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Fec=2)Distribution : Indo-Pacific: India to New Guinea, north to Japan. Reported from the Red Sea and east African coast but these western records need to be confirmed. Collected from the estuary and freshwater of the River Ganges (Ref. 33178). Probably a species complex (Ref. 35766).
Diagnosis :
Biology : Likely confined to the inner continental shelf (Ref. 9840), over sandy and mud bottoms (Ref. 30573). Recorded from coastal waters and river mouths (Ref. 45255). Feeds on bottom crustaceans including shrimp, crabs and small lobsters (Ref. 5578). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). Important food fish, the skin and flesh are dried or used to produce leather for purses and bags (Ref. 9840). Caught in very large quantities in the demersal tangle net, bottom trawl and trammel net fisheries. Utilized for its meat, skin (high value) and cartilage (Ref.58048)
Threatened : Dangerous:  
Dangerous : harmless
Coordinator : McEachran, John
Main Ref : Last, P.R. and L.J.V. Compagno. 1999. (Ref. 9840)

India country information
Common Names : [ No common name ]
Status : native
Salinity : freshwater, brackish, marine
Uses : no uses