Zonetail butterfly rays feed on smaller organisms found on or near the sea floor such as bony fishes, crustaceans, and molluscs.

Their skin is smooth throughout, with the dorsal surface of the body being a uniformly brown color adorned with numerous small rounded white spots throughout.

The caudal sting of the Zonetail butterfly ray is typically underdeveloped and also presents with a small dorsal fin at its base.

[7][8] They are distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, having been observed near Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia (near the islands of Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Sumatera,) Malaysia; Myanmar; the Philippines; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Taiwan; Thailand; and Vietnam.

Viviparity entails initial nourishment of the offspring by yolk, and then subsequently by uterine milk (histotroph) rich in proteins and lipids up until birth.

In butterfly rays, reproduction occurs via internal fertilization, where the male inserts one of their two claspers into the female cloaca to deposit sperm to the eggs.

[14] As a result of this, Zonetail butterfly rays can access both pelagic and benthic zones in aquatic environments,[15] but likely prefer spending more time near the benthos as indicated by their feeding habits and dictated by their inferior mouth type.

They use smaller undulations of the pectoral fins near the benthos presumably to keep the surrounding sediment undisturbed, allowing for better detection of prey through use of their ventral lateral line.

Their inferior mouth type and co-occurrence with Longtail butterfly rays indicate that they may also feed on some bottom-dwelling crustaceans and molluscs, but there currently exists limited observed data on this for G.

They are primarily threatened by overfishing from commercial fisheries (via trawling) for use of raw materials, but are of relatively low value due to their small size compared to other rays.