---
title: "Coffin Ray"
description: "Hypnos monopterygius — Fish. Hypnos monopterygius, also known as the coffin ray or Australian numbfish, is a species of electric ray endemic to Australia, where it is common in inshore waters shallower than 80 m (260 ft)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/coffin-ray
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Coffin Ray

> Hypnos monopterygius — Fish. Hypnos monopterygius, also known as the coffin ray or Australian numbfish, is a species of electric ray endemic to Australia, where it is common in inshore waters shallower than 80 m (260 ft).

- Scientific name: *Hypnos monopterygius*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `sea` (Sea & coast)
- iNaturalist observations: 714
- Wikidata: [Q865792](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q865792)
- iNaturalist taxon: [103091](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/103091)

## Names

- en: Coffin Ray
- de: Birnen-Zitterrochen
- fr: Hypnos monopterygium

## Countries with the most observations

AU (695)

## Summary

Hypnos monopterygius, also known as the coffin ray or Australian numbfish, is a species of electric ray endemic to Australia, where it is common in inshore waters shallower than 80 m (260 ft). It is the sole member of its genus Hypnos, and family Hypnidae. This small species typically reaches 40 cm (16 in) in length. Greatly enlarged pectoral fins and an extremely short tail, coupled with diminutive dorsal and caudal fins all concentrated towards the rear, give the coffin ray a distinctive pear-like shape. It is a varying shade of brown in colour above, and has tiny eyes and a large, highly distensible mouth.
The…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_ray

## Photo

![Coffin Ray](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/coffin-ray/medium.jpg)

Photo: Astrid Osborne · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/336953938

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/coffin-ray?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).