Kapala stingaree information

Kapala stingaree
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Superorder:	Batoidea
Order:	Myliobatiformes
Family:	Urolophidae
Genus:	Urolophus
Species:	U. kapalensis
Binomial name
Urolophus kapalensis Yearsley & Last, 2006

The Kapala stingaree (Urolophus kapalensis) is a species of stingray in the family Urolophidae, endemic to inshore waters off southeastern Queensland and New South Wales. It is commonly found on and around rocky reefs at a depth of 10–130 m (33–427 ft). Reaching 51 cm (20 in) in length, the Kapala stingaree has a rounded, diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc and a slender tail, which ends in a leaf-shaped caudal fin and bears lateral skin folds and a small dorsal fin in front of the stinging spine. It has a distinctive bell-shaped curtain of skin between its nostrils. This species is greenish above, with a highly variable pattern of dark markings usually found outside and between the eyes, and over the back and tail.

Crustaceans, in particular shrimp and amphipods, constitute the predominant prey of the Kapala stingaree; small bony fishes and polychaete worms are also eaten. It is aplacental viviparous, with females normally gestating only one pup at a time, and provisioning it with histotroph ("uterine milk"). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened; it is regularly taken incidentally by commercial fisheries, and is unlikely to be resilient against fishing pressure due to its low fecundity and propensity for aborting its young when captured.