Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last, 2008
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda) is a little-known species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in the central Indo-West Pacific region, from the Andaman Sea to the Coral Triangle. It is found close to shore at depths shallower than 70 m (230 ft), over soft substrates. Attaining a width of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), this species has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc with a pointed snout and an extremely long, whip-like tail without fin folds. Adult rays have a leopard-like dorsal pattern of dark brown rings on a yellowish brown background, as well as a row of enlarged, heart-shaped dermal denticles along the midline of the disc. Newborns and small juveniles have large, solid dark spots and few denticles. The leopard whipray is caught by fisheries in many parts of its range, primarily for meat.
Wikipedia contributors, Leopard whipray; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:48:17.917688+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Himantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last, 2008
- Name authority
- Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last, 2008
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Dasyatidae
- Genus
- Himantura
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassBatoidea
- orderMyliobatiformes
- familyDasyatidae Jordan & Gilbert, 1879
- genusHimantura Müller & Henle, 1837
- speciesHimantura leoparda Manjaji-Matsumoto & Last, 2008
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Himantura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Himantura australis Last, White & Naylor, 2016 | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura krempfi (Chabanaud, 1923) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura marginata (Blyth, 1860) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura pareh (Bleeker, 1852) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura arlyzae Borsa, Hernawan, Hocdé & Pouyaud, 2026 | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura alcockii (Annandale, 1909) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura fava (Annandale, 1909) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura fluviatilis (Hamilton, 1822) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura microphthalma (Chen, 1948) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura tutul Borsa, Durand, Shen, Alyza, Solihin & Berrebi, 2013 | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| honeycomb stingrayHimantura uarnak (Gmelin, 1789) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Himantura undulata (Bleeker, 1852) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M; Last, P.R. (2008). Himantura leoparda sp. Nov., a new whipray (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) from the Indo-Pacific. In Last, P.R., White, W.T. & Pogonoski, J.J. (Eds.): Descriptions of New Australian Chondrichthyans. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Paper No. 22. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3LY3S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.