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Spotted Eagle Ray

Spotted Eagle Ray line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Spotted Eagle Ray full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Spotted Eagle Ray was completed on 11.10.10. I was lucky enough to swim with a few of these striking looking rays near Maui on one of my first visits to the Hawaiian Islands. I hope to one day swim with Manta Rays as well. The drawing is based on a photo by the talented underwater photographer Terry Goss.

Information about the Spotted Eagle Ray:

The Spotted Eagle Ray - also called the Bonnet Ray - is a cartilaginous fish native to shallow coastal waters in and around coral reefs and bays. They are members of the Myliobatidae family, found globally in tropical regions, including the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, Atlantic Africa, the Indian Ocean, Oceania, and the Pacific west coast of the Americas. Aetobatus narinari has a very distinctive head, which ends in a flattened, slightly upturned snout resembling the bill of a duck. It has a long, thin whiplike tail with a venomous spine near the base. These fish often travel alone or in small groups, but can also be encountered in huge shoals of at least a hundred individuals in open waters.