It is a bottom dweller that generally inhabits shallow water under 70 m (230 ft) deep, in sandy areas associated with coral reefs.

It has only a few small thorns on its back and is uniform brownish to grayish pink in color, becoming much darker past the tail sting.

Across much of its range, substantial numbers of pink whiprays are caught incidentally by a variety of fishing gear and marketed for meat, skin, and cartilage.

In 2009, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had listed this species as Least Concern, due to its wide distribution that includes relatively protected areas, such as northern Australia.

The pink whipway was described by American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Alvin Seale in the 1906 volume of Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, on the basis of a specimen 37 cm (15 in) across collected off Apia, Samoa.

[6] The pectoral fin disc of the pink whipray is diamond-shaped and thick at the center, measuring about 1.1–1.2 times wider than long.

It is believed to be common throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, probably occurring all around Indian Ocean periphery from South Africa to northern Australia, from the year 2014 appears in the Red Sea.

This bottom-dwelling species prefers sandy flats, lagoons, and other soft-bottomed habitats, often near cays and atolls in coral reefs.

[10] Genetic and telemetry studies across Polynesian islands have found that individual rays tend to remain within a local area, with very little between-island movement.

[2] Known parasites of the pink whipray include the monogeneans Heterocotyle capricornensis,[14] Monocotyle helicophallus, M. spiremae,[15] M. youngi,[16] Merizocotyle australensis,[15] Neoentobdella parvitesticulata,[17] and Trimusculotrema heronensis,[18] the tapeworm Prochristianella spinulifera,[19] and the isopod Gnathia grandilaris.

[20] Though not highly dangerous to humans, the pink whipray's venomous sting makes it difficult to handle when it is thrashing in a fishing net.

[1] The pink whipray is valuable to ecotourism at sites in the Maldives, French Polynesia, and elsewhere; they are attracted to visitors in large numbers by the promise of food.

[11] However, a 2008 study of Moorea whiprays found a negative effect of ecotourism in the form of bite and impact injuries, stemming from artificially high ray density and interactions with boat traffic at the feeding sites.