Spotted Eagle Ray

Habitat: Sand flats, channel mouths, and the open water off reef walls; digs in sand for buried prey

Distribuição: Tropical western Atlantic and Caribbean; Indo-Pacific animals are now treated as the closely related ocellated eagle ray (Aetobatus ocellatus), all but identical to divers

Comportamento: Flies rather than swims: long pointed wings beating in slow strokes as it patrols walls solo or in echelon squadrons. Wary of divers, it holds a polite distance and departs with two unhurried wingbeats. Winter gatherings off Cozumel's northern walls can number dozens.

Dieta: Clams, conch, whelks, and crustaceans crushed with plate-like teeth built for shell-cracking

Tamanho: normalmente cerca de 1.7 m; documentado até 3.3 m (disc width; the whip tail can more than double the animal's total length).

Hold your line along the wall and let squadrons pass. Swimming at them ends the encounter for the whole group. Never corner one against the reef or grab the trailing tail.

Endangered: inshore net fisheries take a heavy toll across the range, and slow reproduction gives little resilience; protected in several Caribbean jurisdictions where it anchors dive tourism.