📸 PhotoPhoto: Coughdrop12 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Whip stingray
Hemitrygon akajei (Whip stingray · アカエイ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 10.7 kg is slightly heavier than a 10 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 In Japan, it is eaten in miso soup or simmered with seasoning, and is also used as an ingredient for kamaboko fish cake (FishBase).
- 💡 It is also traded as an ornamental fish and targeted by anglers (FishBase).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The whip stingray is a stingray living on sandy and muddy bottoms of coral reefs and estuaries, and is also recorded along the coasts of Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It matures at a body length of around 44 cm and has been reported to grow up to 2 m. It is ovoviviparous, with eggs hatching inside the mother, and is reported to give birth to 1 pup at a time (previously estimated at up to 10).
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on small fishes and crustaceans. Because of its small size, its meat is not highly valued, and it is occasionally caught near shore in bottom trawls.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is a recorded species in Korea listed in the National List of Species of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List NT (2021) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/60148/104113935
- • IUCN Red List category NT — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 6LR55
- • iucnredlist.org — 104113935
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000057373 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000057373
- • wikidata.org — Q28776833
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Hemitrygon akajei Albino.jpg
- • fishbase.se — Hemitrygon-akajei.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — M Kolmann · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Neotrygon)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.