The black-spotted whipray (Himantura astra) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in coastal waters off southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Long thought to be a variant of the related brown whipray (H. toshi), this species has an angular, diamond-shaped pectoral fin disc and a whip-like tail without fin folds. 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. In addition, the tail has alternating light and dark saddles past the stinging spine. This species reaches a maximum recorded width of 80 cm (31 in).