Dasyatis matsubarai
| Pitted stingray | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Myliobatiformes |
| Family: | Dasyatidae |
| Genus: | Dasyatis |
| Species: | D. matsubarai |
| Binomial name | |
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Dasyatis matsubarai Miyosi, 1939 |
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The pitted stingray (Dasyatis matsubarai) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, endemic to the waters around Japan and the Sea of Japan. It typically found near the coast at depths of 40–60 m (130–200 ft), but may also venture into the open sea. Measuring up to 1.2 m (3.9 ft) across, the pitted stingray has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc with a characteristic "W"-shaped groove on the underside. Other identifying characteristics of this species include its dark gray dorsal coloration with small white spots, and the presence of dorsal tubercles in adults. Pitted stingrays are caught as bycatch in coastal fisheries and brought to market. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) does not yet have sufficient data to assess this species beyond Data Deficient.
Japanese ichthyologist Yasunori Miyosi described the pitted stingray in a 1939 issue of the Bulletin of the Biogeographical Society of Japan, based on a specimen collected from the Hyuga-nada Sea in eastern Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Some authors regard the multispine giant stingray (D. multispinosa) as the same as this species.
The pitted stingray is found over the continental shelf around Japan, and is particularly abundant around Hokkaidō and northern Honshū. It has also been recorded from elsewhere in the Sea of Japan, near South Korea and Vladivostok, Russia. The pitted stingray is generally a bottom-dweller inhabiting coastal waters 40–60 m (130–200 ft) deep. However, the capture of one individual near the surface over water 3,000 m (9,800 ft) deep in the Sea of Japan suggests that this species may have pelagic habits as well.
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