Description
A thick pectoral fin disc wider than it is long, with a smoothly rounded outer margin. The eyes are of medium size and are followed by larger spiracles. There is a short and broad curtain of skin between the oval nostrils, with a finely fringed trailing margin. The mouth is wide and curved, with faint furrows at the corners. There is a row of seven papillae on the floor, with the outermost pair smaller and set apart from the others. There are 37–46 tooth rows in the upper jaw and 39–45 tooth rows in the lower jaw. The teeth are small with a deep groove across the crown, and are arranged in a dense quincunx pattern into flattened surfaces. The pelvic fins are small and narrow. The tail is relatively short, not exceeding the width of the disc, and bears one (rarely two) long, serrated stinging spine on the upper surface. The base of the tail is broad; past the spine the tail rapidly thins, and bears a deep ventral fin fold that runs to the tail tip. The upper surface of the disc and tail are roughened by a uniform covering of small, widely spaced granules. There is also a midline row of sharp tubercles on the back, with two shorter rows alongside. The first of these tubercles develop at a length of around 46 cm (18 in), over the "shoulders" and in the single midline row. The dorsal coloration is light to dark gray, brown-gray, or purplish, becoming most intense towards the fin margins, with a highly variable pattern of irregular darker mottling and white speckles or streaks. The tail past the spine, including the fin fold, is uniformly black, while the underside is creamy white with darker fin margins and additional dots. Young rays are more plain in coloration than adults. Max Size:180 cm DW; 330 cm TL. Depth:5-40 m (reported to 439 m).

Etymology
Taeniurops: from feminine Latin noun, taenia = ribbon or band + from Ancient Greek, oura = tail, referring to fin fold underneath tail + from Ancient Greek, óps = eye, face, appearance. Originally proposed as a subgenus of Taeniura.
meyeni: in honor of Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen (1804-1840), physician and botanist.
Original description: Taeniura meyeni Müller & Henle, 1841 - Type locality: Mauritius, Mascarenes, southwestern Indian Ocean.

Distribution
Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, South Africa, Persian Gulf, Madagascar and Mascarenes east to Marquesas Islands, north to Korea, Japan and Ogasawara Islands, south to Queensland (Australia), Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and New Caledonia; Also Galápagos Archipelago.

Biology
Generally nocturnal, the blotched fantail ray can be solitary or gregarious and frequents sandy patches near coral reefs. 
Carnivore - feeds on benthic fishes and invertebrates such as crabs, shrimps and bivalve molluscs.
Reproductive mode - aplacental viviparous, meaning that the embryos are initially sustained by yolk, then by a special "uterine milk" called histotroph. Females give birth to small litters of  up to 7 pups that measure on average 35 cm DW and 67 cm TL when born. Little else is known of the biology of this species.
The venomous spines on the tail of the Blotched Fantail Ray species can cause a severe and painful injury. The species is responsible for at least one human fatality (Steve Irwin) due to a stab wound from the serrated spines on the tail. While not usually aggressive, Blotched Fantail Rays should be treated with respect and great caution.
Targeted and taken as bycatch in commercial fishing operations, and consumed in parts of its range. Juveniles are caught and discarded as bycatch in prawn trawl fisheries in northern Australia.