Bat Ray Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Wide, angular pectoral disc with pointed wingtips, wider than long
• Distinctly humped, raised head profile behind the eyes
• Single rounded, undivided snout lobe with no notch, giving a duck-billed look from below
• Dark brown, olive, or blackish upperside, cream to white underside
• Thick tail base tapering to a whip-like tip, armed with one or more venomous spines near the base

Common look-alikes

• Cownose ray has a similar shape but shows a bilobed, notched snout rather than the bat ray's single rounded lobe
• Eagle rays have a longer, pointed snout that extends well past the eyes instead of a short rounded one
• Round stingray is much smaller with a nearly circular disc and no raised head hump

Where you'll see one

Common along the Pacific coast of North America, from Oregon to the Gulf of California, in shallow bays, estuaries, kelp beds, and sandy or muddy flats. Bat rays often forage by flapping their disc to expose buried prey and are frequently seen resting on the bottom or cruising just above it in coastal shallows.