Flapnose ray
Amazing fact
Flapnose rays are thought to form schools to help them avoid predators and find food efficiently.
葛西臨海水族園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Flapnose rays are thought to form schools to help them avoid predators and find food efficiently.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Flapnose ray
- Scientific name
- Rhinoptera javanica
- Japanese name
- ウシバナトビエイ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Chondrichthyes
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Myliobatidae
- Genus
- Rhinoptera
A ray that flaps its large triangular pectoral fins and seems to fly rather than swim. It sometimes forms huge schools.
Its Japanese name, meaning “cow nose,” comes from the head fins in front of its mouth, which look like a cow's nose. It uses them to dig in the seabed and find prey.
With its plate-like teeth, it can crush hard foods such as shellfish, shrimp, and crabs.
How the Flapnose ray lives
It lives in the middle layer of coastal waters.
葛西臨海水族園Basic data
- Size
- Disc size: 150 cm
- Diet
- Shrimp, crabs, and shellfish
- Range
- Ogasawara and Nansei Islands to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific
- Conservation status in Japan
- Data Deficient (DD)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Marine Red List (2017)
Where the Flapnose ray has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ウシバナトビエイ
- 简体中文
- 爪哇牛鼻鲼
- 繁體中文
- 爪哇牛鼻鱝
- Español
- Raya caravaca de Java
- Français
- Mourine Javanaise
- Deutsch
- Java-Kuhnasenrochen
- Português (Brasil)
- Raia-ticonha-indo-malaia
- Italiano
- Razza musopiatto
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá ó dơi mõm bò
- Русский
- Яванский бычерыл
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 葛西臨海水族園 — ウシバナトビエイChecked: 2026-11-03
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Marine Red List (2017)Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Flapnose ray, look for this
- Look for it extending and folding the head fins in front of its mouth.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
葛西臨海水族園EXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Flapnose ray
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Myliobatidae
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