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The Ningaloo maskray (''Neotrygon ningalooensis'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found along the northwestern coast of Australia. Measuring up to across, it has a diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc with a blunt snout and rounded outer corners. Its tail is whip-like with both upper and lower fin folds. This species has a distinctive dorsal color pattern consisting of numerous small, sharp-edged deep orange spots and slightly larger, fuzzy-edged pale blue spots on a yellowish brown background. Inhabiting inshore waters less than deep, the bottom-dwelling Ningaloo maskray has highly specific habitat preferences. It is found on reddish sand near reefs, upon which its coloration grants it excellent camouflage. It is able to bury itself deeper than other maskrays thanks to its protruding eyes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed this species as Data Deficient due to lack of information. It is not vulnerable to fisheries but may be impacted by habitat degradation. ==Taxonomy and phylogeny== The first known sighting of the Ningaloo maskray was during a study of Ningaloo Marine Park's sharks and rays (hence its common name and scientific epithet), funded by the Western Australian Marine Science Institute (WAMSI). It was described by Peter Last, William White, and Melody Puckridge in a 2010 article for the scientific journal ''Aqua''. The type specimens are two adult males, one and the other across, both collected from Five Fingers Reef near Coral Bay, Western Australia.〔 }} }} }} }} }} A 2012 phylogenetic study, based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, concluded that the Ningaloo maskray and the plain maskray (''N. annotata'') are the most basal members of their genus. In addition, the Coral Bay population showed deep differences in mitochondrial DNA from the Shark Bay population, indicating that they belong to different lineages. Whether they represent separate species is ambiguous, as rays from the two locations do not differ physically or in known nuclear DNA markers. This genetic divergence suggests that the Ningaloo maskray population had once been divided by sea level changes; using different methods of estimation, this event is thought to have occurred either ''c.'' 11 Ma, during the Miocene, or 3–2 Ma, during the Pliocene.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ningaloo maskray」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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