The black-spotted whipray (Maculabatis astra) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in the coastal waters off southern New Guinea and northern Australia.

It is characterized by its dorsal color pattern, which consists of a variably extensive covering of small, close-set dark, and sometimes also white spots, on a grayish-brown background.

Most of the black-spotted whipray's range lies within Australian waters, where it faces minimal conservation threats since the widespread deployment of bycatch-reducing measures on commercial trawlers.

Last, Mabel Manjaji-Matsumoto, and John Pogonoski formally described it in a 2008 CSIRO publication, giving it the specific epithet astra after the Latin astrum ("constellation").

The very thin, gently tapering whip-like tail measures 2.1–2.7 times as long as the disc is wide, and lacks fin folds.

The tail past the sting bears alternating light and dark saddles; these form complete bands in juveniles under 50 cm (20 in) across.

This bottom-dwelling species inhabits coastal waters 1–141 m (3.3–462.6 ft) deep, favoring sandy habitats, and tends to be found farther from shore than the brown whipray.

For rays off Queensland and in the Torres Strait, polychaete worms constitute an important secondary food source to crustaceans.

[3] Like other stingrays, the black-spotted whipray is aplacental viviparous, with females nourishing their young with nutrient-rich histotroph ("uterine milk").

Their range off northern Australia was noted to be large and relatively protected from fishing pressure, as the mandatory implementation of Turtle Exclusion Devices (TEDs) on bottom trawls has greatly reduced bycatch mortality.

[7] In IndonHimanturaesian waters, small numbers of black-spotted whiprays are caught and marketed for their skin, which is extremely valuable, and also meat and cartilage.