Like other stingrays, it is aplacental viviparous, with the developing embryos sustained to term by histotroph ("uterine milk") produced by the mother.

The venomous stinging spine of the thorntail stingray can inflict a painful injury, though it is not aggressive towards humans.

Australian ichthyologist James Douglas Ogilby originally described the thorntail stingray from four specimens collected off New South Wales during the 1898 scientific expedition of the trawler HMCS Thetis, after which the species was named.

[1] The thorntail stingray is found off southern Africa from Algoa Bay, South Africa to Barra da Falsa, Mozambique and Réunion, as well as off Australia from Shark Bay to northern New South Wales, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, and New Zealand.

Off New Zealand, large groups of thorntail stingrays have been seen inside caves and beneath rocky arches.

[6] The whip-like tail measures about twice the length of the disc and bears one or two long stinging spines with up to 88 serrations.

[1] Off New Zealand, both it and the short-tail stingray regularly fall prey to local killer whales (Orcinus orca).

[13] Thorntail stingrays have been reported to congregate in warm, shallow waters during the summer, possibly for reproductive purposes.

[11] At Hamelin Bay, Western Australia, many thorntail stingrays, short-tail stingrays, and Australian bull rays (Myliobatis australis) regularly gather to be hand-fed fish scraps; the number of visitors has steadily increased in recent years, and there is interest in developing the site as a permanent tourist attraction.

Most individuals landed are discarded, though the rate of survival after capture is unknown, as this species may be subject to persecution by fishery workers.