bat ray

Open encyclopedia reference

The bat ray (Myliobatis californica) is an eagle ray that has a diamond ray-like form that consists of pectoral fins that are wing-like and end in blunt points. The head is broad and raised higher than the pectoral fins. The eyes are laterally situated on the broad head. Below the front of the head projection is a horizontal depression. This means that instead of the head being flat, there is a slight indent in the top of the head in between the eyes. The tail is whip-like and is typically incomplete with at least one venomous spine at the base of the tail. The incomplete aspect means that the tail consists of cartilage instead of bone. The dorsal side is black or a dark brown while the ventral side is white with the exception of the areas close to the tips or disk. The largest specimens can grow to a wingspan of 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) and a mass of 91 kg (201 lb).

Wikipedia contributors, Bat ray; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:44:06.171031+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Myliobatis californica Gill, 1865

Name authority

Gill, 1865

Common name

bat ray

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Elasmobranchii

Order

Myliobatiformes

Family

Myliobatidae

Genus

Myliobatis

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumChondrichthyes
7. classElasmobranchii
8. subclassNeoselachii
9. infraclassBatoidea
10. orderMyliobatiformes
11. familyMyliobatidae Bonaparte, 1835
12. genusMyliobatis Cuvier, 1816
13. speciesMyliobatis californica Gill, 1865

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Myliobatis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 19 records assigned to Myliobatidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. Gill, T. N. (1865). Note on the family of myliobatoids, and on a new species of Aetobatis. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, v. 8 (art. 13): 135–138. 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.

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:453CB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.