Spotted Eagle Ray

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

Phạm vi phân bố: 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

Hành vi: 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.

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

Kích thước: thường vào khoảng 1.7 m; ghi nhận đến độ sâu 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.