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Himantura fai

Tāmanu (PL)

Pink Stingray

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adults foraging on sea floor	25KB
Image:	Close-up of adult body and tail-lobes	91KB
Video:	Suwarrow, © G.Wragg	899KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Pink Stingray, Pink Whipray

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tāmanu (PL), Hai (TS TW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - GBR - Tuamotu; n. to Guam; s. to GBR

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Native, recorded PL PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, lagoon

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous sting - serious

KEY FEATURES: Pentangonal to 1.5mØ, with very long tail. Uniformly tan, grey or brownish-pink; white below. Disc pentagonal, slightly wider than long, to 150cmØ; skin smooth. Tail round, without keel or dorsal skin-fold, very long (3x disc-Ø), with 1 functional sting.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Honeycomb Stingray (Himantura uarnak, likely but not yet recorded) has dark spots and reticulate pattern.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
						P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
P?

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Himantura fai Jordan & Seale, 1906
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; CHONDRICHTHYES; Rajiformes; Myliobatoidei; DASYATIDAE. COMMENT: family sometimes spelt Dasyatididae

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Palmerston: Fieldsighting+Video, 1999, H.Peckham (H&P00), ID GM.

References:
Special Reference: Jordan & Seale (1906) The Fishes of Samoa, from Bull. of the Bureau of Fisheries XXV (1905):173-455, Plates XXXIII-LIII, Washington.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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