Flat-Finned Neighbors: Rays and Skates Along Topsail & New River

If you love watching for fins in Onslow County, remember: not every fin belongs to a shark. Sharks, rays, skates, and sawfishes are all elasmobranchs—cartilaginous fishes with skeletons of flexible cartilage instead of bone. Along our beaches and in the New River estuary, you’ll most often meet rays and skates, the sharks’ closest cousins. Below are the species you’re most likely to spot, when they show up, what they eat, who eats them, their environmental preferences, and their conservation status.

Quick ID: Ray vs. Skate

• Rays generally have a whip-like tail; many (not all) have a venomous spine.
  
• Skates lack a stinging spine and often have small dorsal fins near the tail tip.
  
• Both glide over sand flats, sounds, and estuary mouths where they vacuum up clams, crabs, and small fishes.

Atlantic Stingray (Hypanus sabinus) — Our year-round neighbor in the estuary

Small, spade-shaped, and sand-colored, the Atlantic stingray frequents shallow, warm, and often brackish waters, including the lower New River and surf zones off Topsail. It’s one of the most euryhaline elasmobranchs (tolerant of a wide salinity range), which is why folks see them from tidal creeks to nearshore surf (Johnson & Snelson, 1996).

When to look: Late spring through fall in very shallow water on warm days (watch for “flying” jumps as they evade predators or parasites).

Give them space: Shuffle your feet in the shallows to avoid accidental tail-spine contact.

Diet (Prey): Worms, amphipods, small crustaceans, and mollusks, dug up from the sandy bottom.
Predators: Large sharks (bull, hammerhead), some large fish (groupers, snappers), and wading birds preying on juveniles.

Conservation status:

• IUCN: Least Concern.
• U.S. Status: Not protected under ESA or CITES; not managed in fisheries.
  Note: Stable populations, though freshwater groups sometimes show reproductive decline tied to water quality.

Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) — The bronze “wings” of summer

Bronze-backed and wing-tipped, cownose rays cruise past Topsail in late spring and summer, sometimes in tight schools. Large multi-year telemetry studies show cownose rays migrate seasonally along the Atlantic coast, using mid-Atlantic estuaries for pupping and mating, then overwintering off central Florida (Ogburn et al., 2018).

Local note: Schools moving along Onslow County beaches are most common mid- to late summer, especially on calm, clear mornings.

Diet (Prey): Hard-shelled bivalves (clams, oysters, scallops) and crabs, crushed with strong dental plates.
Predators: Large sharks such as sandbar, bull, and tiger sharks.

Conservation status:

• IUCN: Vulnerable.
  
• U.S. Status: Not federally protected; some states (e.g., Maryland) have moratoria on killing contests.
  

Note: At risk due to low reproductive rates, heavy schooling, and targeted culling in parts of its range.

Butterfly Ray (Genus Gymnura) — Rare, paper-thin glider

Two butterfly rays—smooth butterfly ray and spiny butterfly ray—occur only sporadically here, near the northern edge of their ranges. Long-term sampling in Onslow Bay recorded both species mostly April–November, usually as young individuals (Schwartz, 2011).

Where to look: Quiet sandy flats adjacent to inlets during warm months—rare sightings, treat them as a bonus.

Diet (Prey): Small benthic fishes, shrimp, and crabs.
Predators: Large sharks, particularly sandbar and hammerhead.

Conservation status:

• IUCN: Endangered (spiny butterfly ray).
  
• U.S. Status: Not listed under ESA or CITES.
  

Note: Populations declining globally; extremely rare in NC, where records are incidental.

Clearnose Skate (Raja eglanteria) — The subtle, spotted skate

Clearnose skates favor our nearshore sandy bottom habitats and show up all year, with peak catches outside the hottest months. In a recent year-round analysis of the North Carolina nearshore elasmobranch community, clearnose skates were among the most abundant species and were often juveniles, highlighting how our inner shelf provides important habitat (Roskar et al., 2024).

Local tip: Anglers bottom-fishing near the bar or just off the beach encounter skates more often in the cooler seasons.

Diet (Prey): Worms, amphipods, squid, and small fishes suctioned from the sand.
Predators: Large sharks (sandbar, sand tiger, smooth dogfish) and occasionally other large rays or skates.

Conservation status:

• IUCN: Least Concern.
  
• U.S. Status: Not protected individually, but included in the Northeast Skate Complex Fishery Management Plan, from Maine to Cape Hatteras, NC.
  

Note: Common, often caught as bycatch; no special protections beyond fishery quotas.

Mermaid’s Purses & Season Guide

Elasmobranch egg cases—often called “mermaid’s purses”—sometimes wash up on our beaches in Onslow County. They are protective capsules laid by skates (relatives of sharks and rays). Each capsule once held a developing embryo. If you find one, it will most likely be an egg casing of a clearnose skate.

Rays and stingrays (Atlantic stingray, cownose ray, butterfly rays) give birth to live pups—so their egg cases will never be found.
Skates (like clearnose skate) are oviparous and the main source of egg cases on our shores.

Seasonal Timing in Onslow County

Environmental Preferences: Temperature & Salinity

The presence of rays and skates in Onslow County shifts with water temperature and salinity. These factors determine when species move inshore, offshore, or migrate seasonally.

A seasonal cast: What rotates through Onslow waters and when?

Multiple studies show our coast hosts a seasonally shifting elasmobranch assemblage—from warm-season rays nearshore to cool-season species on the inner shelf—driven largely by temperature. While many surveys historically emphasized sharks, batoids (rays & skates) make up a large fraction of biomass on our continental shelf, and Onslow’s inner shelf and estuary mouths act as corridors and nurseries through the year (Roskar et al., 2024).

What about sawfish?

Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata)—a ray with a chainsaw-like rostrum—is the most likely sawfish historically near NC, with a U.S. range that once extended to North Carolina. Today, it’s critically endangered and largely restricted to Florida, with only rare Northern reports (Brame et al., 2019).

Diet (Prey): Small schooling fishes (mullets, herrings) and crustaceans, stunned or stirred up with its saw-like snout.
Predators: Juveniles preyed on by large sharks; adults have few natural predators.If you ever encounter one, do not handle—it is federally protected.

Conservation & Ecology Summary Table

How our community can help

• Observe & report: Photograph rays, skates, or egg cases (from a safe distance) and note date, location, water conditions.
• Respect nursery areas: Summer shallows often host juveniles; avoid disturbing resting rays.
• Support clean water projects: Healthy estuary bottoms = healthy benthic prey = healthier ray & skate populations.

References

Brame, A. B., Wiley, T., Carlson, J., Fordham, S., Musick, J., & Grubbs, R. D. (2019). Biology, ecology, and status of the smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata in the USA. Endangered Species Research, 39, 9–23. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00947

Johnson, M. R., & Snelson, F. F., Jr. (1996). Reproductive life history of the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina (Pisces, Dasyatidae), in the freshwater St. Johns River, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science, 59(1), 74–88.

Ogburn, M. B., Bangley, C. W., Aguilar, R., Fisher, R. A., Curran, M. C., Webb, S. F., & Hines, A. H. (2018). Migratory connectivity and philopatry of cownose rays Rhinoptera bonasus along the Atlantic coast, USA. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 602, 197–211. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12686

Roskar, G., Morley, J. W., & Buckel, J. A. (2024). Seasonality and relative abundance within an elasmobranch assemblage near a major biogeographic divide. PLOS ONE, 19(6), e0300697. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300697

Schwartz, F. J. (2011). Butterfly rays (Gymnuridae) of North Carolina. Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science, 127(4), 275–284.

Sulikowski, J. A., Williams, L. J., Kneebone, J., & Tsang, P. C. W. (2022). Rangewide population structure of the clearnose skate Raja eglanteria. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 151(2), 143–155. https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10351

NOAA Fisheries. (n.d.). Smalltooth Sawfish (Pristis pectinata). Retrieved 2025, from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/smalltooth-sawfish