Australian Butterfly Ray

Gymnura australis

Sharks and rays
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth18–132 m
Water temperature20–29 °C
Best monthsAugust and October
How commonOccasional

All species

About this species

The Australian butterfly ray is a species of butterfly ray, family Gymnuridae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Australian butterfly ray”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 5 records
February: 10 records
March: 9 records
April: 14 records
May: 12 records
June: 40 records
July: 10 records
August: 66 records
September: 31 records
October: 67 records
November: 39 records
December: 21 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 18–132 m · Deepest record: 235.5 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 25 records
20–30 m: 27 records
30–40 m: 40 records
40–50 m: 24 records
50–60 m: 24 records
60–70 m: 11 records
70–80 m: 8 records
80–90 m: 10 records
90–100 m: 3 records
100–110 m: 13 records
110+ m: 65 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–29 °C

20–22 °C: 6 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 12 records
26–28 °C: 174 records
28–30 °C: 55 records

Names and classification

English: Australian Butterfly Ray, Butterfly Ray, Rat-tailed Ray, Rat-tail Ray, Skate

Other scientific names: Pteroplatea australis

Similar species

Smooth butterfly ray
Gymnura micrura
Longtail Butterfly Ray
Gymnura poecilura
Japanese butterflyray
Gymnura japonica
Zonetail Butterfly Ray
Gymnura zonurus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
374 open-data records from 1958 to 2017.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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