 However, this species is better known under the name "Taeniura melanospila" (or "melanospilos"), which was applied by Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker to a juvenile specimen from Java, in a 1953 volume of the scientific journal "Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië".Other common names for the round ribbontail ray include black spotted ray, black-blotched stingray, black-spotted stingray, fantail ray, fantail stingray, giant reef ray, blotched fantail ray, and speckled stingray.In Australia, it is one of several species referred to as "bull ray".