Name

Raja asterias

Mediterranean starry ray

Framing

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Elasmobranchii

Order: Rajiformes

Genus: Raja

Species: asterias

Habitat

Marine. Benthic. Semi-buried in soft bottoms, unnoticed. From shallow waters to around 600 m depth in some species.

Feeding

Free life. Solitary. Predator.

Distribution

Genus with 130 species distributed in all tropical and temperate seas. Raja asterias is endemic to the Mediterranean, but can be found in the Atlantic from the French coast to Morocco.

Conservation status

There are no species included in the Andalusian or Spanish catalogues of endangered fauna, although the IUCN has assessed four of the species present in Spain, cataloguing two of them (R. clavata and R. microocellata) as Near Threatened (NT) at a global level. 

Additional information

Stingray up to 75 cm long. The anterior edge of the disc is almost straight. It has 50-60 spines to the first dorsal. Light brown with black dots and small white ocelli.