Local_Shark

Fine-spotted leopard whipray (Himantura tutul) in the Reef Lagoon

This was taken during my visit to the Academy on July 11. The poor dear is labeled as a "honeycomb stingray" with the H. uarnak species name - both definitely incorrect. Based on my analysis so far, she is probably H. tutul like a number of her compatriots in US aquaria.
@CMP This particular photo doesn't show it the best, but the individual in question has rosette-style spots rather than the much smaller dark spots typical to reticulate whiptails (H. uarnak). That would indicate that it's either a leopard (H. leoparda) or a fine-spotted leopard (H. tutul), and the size of the rosettes would lead toward the latter. Fine-spotteds are also more common in Western Hemisphere aquaria overall based on the data I have.

I should note that it is possible they were using the "honeycomb stingray" common name for what most of the world calls "reticulate whiptails", but of course that just makes things extra confusing with the presence of H. undulata as a distinct species.
 
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Media information

Category
California Academy of Sciences
Added by
Local_Shark
Date added
View count
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Comment count
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Image metadata

Device
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
Aperture
ƒ/1.78
Focal length
6.9 mm
Exposure time
1/121 second(s)
ISO
125
Flash
Off, did not fire
Filename
IMG_5615.jpeg
File size
3.4 MB
Date taken
Thu, 11 July 2024 10:57 AM
Dimensions
4032px x 3024px

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