 The first scientific description of the plain maskray was authored by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO ) researcher Peter Last in a 1987 issue of Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria . The specific name annotatus comes from the Latin an ( " not " ) and notatus ( " marked " ) , and refers to the ray 's coloration . The holotype is a male 21 @.@ 2 cm ( 8 @.@ 3 in ) across , caught off Western Australia ; several paratypes were also designated . Last tentatively placed the species in the genus Dasyatis , noting that it belonged to the " maskray " species group that also included the bluespotted stingray ( then Dasyatis kuhlii ) . In 2008 , Last and William White elevated the kuhlii group to the rank of full genus as Neotrygon , on the basis of morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence . 
 The first scientific description of the plain maskray was authored by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO ) researcher Peter Last in a 1987 issue of Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria . The specific name annotatus <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>comes</mark></a> from the Latin an ( " not " ) and notatus ( " marked " ) , and <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>refers</mark></a> to the ray <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>coloration . The holotype is a male 21 @.@ 2 cm ( 8 @.@ 3 in ) across , caught off Western Australia ; several paratypes <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>were</mark></a> also designated . Last tentatively placed the species in the genus Dasyatis , noting that it belonged to the " maskray " species group <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>that</mark></a>also included the bluespotted stingray ( then Dasyatis kuhlii ) . In 2008 , Last and William White elevated the kuhlii group to the rank of full genus as Neotrygon , on the basis of morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence . 
Da first scientific description of the plain maskray was authored by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO ) researcher Peter Last in a 1987 issue of Memoirs of tdaNational Museum of Victoria . Thdapecific name annotatus come from thedatin an ( " not " ) and notatus ( " marked " ) , and refer to the da  coloration . The holotype is a male 21 @.@ 2 cm ( 8 @.@ 3 in ) across , caught off Western Australia ; several paratypes was also designated . Last tentatively placed the sdaies in the geda Dasyatis , nuffin that it belonged to the " maskray " species group also included the bluespotted stingray ( then Dasyatis kuhlii ) . In 2008 , Last and William White elevated the kuhlii group to the rank of full genus as Neotrygon , on the basdaof morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence .