Roughtail stingray
![A gray stingray with a heavy, diamond-shaped body and thorny tail, swimming over a patch of sand in a reef](/Images/godic/202501/07/Roughtail_stingray_tenerife5640.jpg")
![World map with blue shading along the eastern coast of the United States, in the Mediterranean and along the coast of West Africa, and along the eastern coast of South America](/Images/godic/202501/07/Dasyatis_centroura_rangemap5640.png")
![A roughtail stingray at the McGrail Bank in the Gulf of Mexico; sandy flats are a favored habitat of this species.](/Images/godic/202501/07/Dasyatis_centroura5640.jpg")
![The roughtail stingray is characterized by the angular shape of its disc and the thorns over its body and tail.](/Images/godic/202501/07/Dasyatis_centroura_drawing5640.jpg")
The roughtail stingray (Dasyatis centroura) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, with separate populations in coastal waters of the northwestern, eastern, and southwestern Atlantic Ocean. This bottom-dwelling species typically inhabits sandy or muddy areas with patches of invertebrate cover, at a depth of 15–50 m (49–164 ft). It is seasonally migratory, overwintering in offshore waters and moving into coastal habitats for summer. The largest whip-tail stingray in the Atlantic, the roughtail stingray grows up to 2.6 m (8.5 ft) across and 360 kg (800 lb) in weight. It is plain in color, with an angular, diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc and a long, whip-tail tail bearing a subtle fin fold underneath. The many thorns on its back and tail serve to distinguish it from other stingrays that share its range.