Fantastical Sharks & Rays

Maugean Skate

Zearaja maugeana

Australia’s living dinosaur, this ray has been around since the T. rex was stomping the earth! It has a pointy nose, big wings, and tiny thorns down its spine. On the brink of extinction, it’s only found in one place on earth, Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania.

Australian Longnose Skate

Dentiraja confusa

This ray looks like it might be related to Pinocchio - except the Longnose skate isn’t lying, it just has a long nose. Shaped like a sparkly diamond, it has spots all over its back. We really must get our skates on to save these beauties of the deep.

Eastern Angelshark

Squatina albipunctata

An angel that’s lost its wings! In fact, this angelshark has swapped them for two dorsal fins instead. Flat and round, it has a "moustache" to detect movement and is speckled with white spots to help it camouflage into the sand where it sleeps - but when it wakes up, it can be found 450m deep!

Greeneye Spurdog

Squalus chloroculus

It’s unlikely you will ever see this shark because it lives more than 1000m beneath the deep blue sea. It has incredible superpowers - big bright green eyes to help it see in the near-pitch black depths, and an organ in its head to help it know when to ascend at night for food or descend to the deep and rest during the day.

Melbourne Skate

Spiniraja whitleyi

With a name like “Melbourne”, some might think this diamond-shaped beauty looks like a trendy hipster. Well, it might not wear a beanie, but this stingray is grey like Melbourne weather. When not swimming 345m deep, they can be found in the best restaurants of the sea, munching on unsuspecting spider crabs and octopus.

Greenback Stingaree

Urolophus viridis

Is it seaweed or is it a stingray? Meet the greenback stingaree, a slippery stingray the colour of greeny-brown moss. Like its cousin, the Yellowback stingaree, this ray is flat, flat, flat, with spirals around its BIG eyes. In the last 30 years, its population has fallen by 30 percent - imagine what could happen if you turn this ray into a masterpiece.

Yellowback Stingaree

Urolophus sufflavus

Yellow like the sun, these stingrays are named for their glorious colour. They have been nick-named “Pancake Sharks” because they are part of the same group of animals as sharks, just flatter. Don’t be fooled though, these stingrays aren't for eating, so save the maple syrup for actual pancakes!

Whitefin Swellshark

Cephaloscyllium albipinnum

When this swellshark feels threatened, it swallows water to make itself look bigger and harder to eat. It lays eggs called a “Mermaid’s Purse” - but it has to watch out for fishing hooks or trawler nets that could scoop it up from its home on the bottom of the sea.

Southern/Eastern Fiddler Ray

Trygonorrhina dumerilii/Trygonorrhina fasciata

Imagine if a ray had a baby that looked like a violin! This ray is also known as the 'Banjo Ray' because it is shaped like an oval with a long tail. It has dark brown swirls across its mustard-yellow back. Hard to miss - until it buries itself in the sand to hide.

Lined Lanternshark

Etmopterus dislineatus

This tiny shark can fit inside your palm! Living 800m deep on the seafloor, this very mysterious shark has light-emitting organs, so it glows in the dark to light its way.