Diamond Stingray in Galápagos: Facts and Where to See It

The diamond stingray is most active at night. By day it lies buried in sand with only its eyes sticking out. At night it hunts burrowing animals, sucking or digging them out of the bottom, and crushes hard shells with powerful jaws and flat, molar-like teeth.

• Shape. The disc is rhomboid, slightly wider than long, with angular corners; plain olive, brown or grey above and off-white below.
• Tail. Up to one and a half times as long as the disc, with a long, slender, serrated spine on top.
• Skin. Young rays are smooth; adults develop rows of low bumps along the back and on the "shoulders".

Diamond stingrays live in coastal waters of the eastern Pacific from southern California to northern Chile, and around the Galápagos and Hawaiian Islands. They usually stay on sandy or muddy flats near rocky reefs and kelp forests, down to about 30 metres. The young develop inside the mother, nourished by a "uterine milk" once their yolk runs out, and are born live.

Guide sighting records list one site: Devil's Crown, a snorkelling site off Floreana, rated Rare. Look at sandy patches for the outline of a buried ray and a pair of eyes.

The guide records list the diamond stingray at Devil's Crown in every month. In the next twelve months, 42 departures stop at the site.

The IUCN assesses it as Vulnerable. It is the slowest-growing stingray known and has few young, so it cannot withstand heavy fishing. It is caught for food by small-scale fishers in Latin America, especially in Mexico, where it is one of the most important rays commercially. In Galápagos, park rules ask visitors to keep at least 2 metres (6 feet) from wildlife.

1. Standing on the sandy bottom. A buried ray is hard to see, and its spine is venomous.
2. Diving down to it. Keep your distance, as park rules ask.
3. Counting on a sighting. The one site in the guide records is rated Rare.