Leopard ray - PAPO's figurine

Dive into the marine world with the leopard ray figurine

The leopard ray is recognizable by its characteristic diamond shape, its dark gray or blue gray color and speckled with white dots on the back, with a white belly. This cartilaginous fish whose wingspan measures on average 1 to 2 meters can reach 3 meters and weigh up to 230 kg. Its tail is very long and has at its base one to six venomous spines whose sting can be very painful, even fatal for a human being. Its head is very flattened and is somewhat similar to a duck's beak. Its mouth is equipped with robust plate teeth that allow it to easily crush shells.

Sometimes in pairs and often in schools of several dozen individuals, the leopard ray swims by slowly and widely moving its pectoral wings, giving more the impression of flying than swimming.

The leopard ray lives in tropical and subtropical waters, in bays and lagoons often close to a reef, and in a depth between the surface and 80 meters. It sometimes rests on sandy bottoms.

Despite its apparent slowness of evolution, the leopard ray has an acceleration capacity allowing it to escape its predators, such as the Great hammerhead shark. It is a very fearful animal and does not usually let itself be approached. It uses its flattened head to search the sand using its sensory organs (similar to those of sharks) to locate its prey (small fish, crustaceans and molluscs).