The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus
narinari) is one of the many species of ray that can be gliding
through coral reefs and bays in warm temperate and tropical waters
internationally. Their unique v-shaped internasal “wings”, long broad snout,
and black skin can identify these rays with white dots or spots covering the dorsal side,
and an extremely long whip-like tail. Their massive wingspan can be nine feet
wide or more and have a body length of eight feet not including the tail. If
the tail were included, a spotted eagle ray can be over sixteen feet long.
The spotted eagle ray is no picky eater as its diet consists of clams,
oysters, shrimp, octopus, squid, sea urchins, and the occasional bony fish.
This ray normally hunts by digging in the mud for food and crush it with their
plate-like teeth. For creatures with shells, they have papillae in their mouth
to separate an organism from its shell.
Spotted eagle rays can be found in large schools in open waters close to
the surface. It has been noted that these rays are able to leap high out of the
water for multiple reasons from avoiding predators or mates, shaking off
parasites, or even just for fun. Although the reason is unknown, spotted eagle
rays can produce loud sounds when they are taken out of the water.
In terms of their connection to humans,
spotted eagle rays are commonly
fished commercially or seen in aquariums. Spotted eagle rays are shy around
humans and will often try to avoid interactions with them. But humans should
still be varies as the spines on their tail on venomous can cause some bad
wounds.
Because humans fish these rays commercially, they have been considered
near threatened due to the decline of numbers. Even more critical, the
Bermudian population of spotted eagle rays is classified as vulnerable. This is
because the Bermudian population is small and females only produce one to four
pups a year. Fortunately, acts have been done to preserve the spotted eagle
rays such as being added to the Bermuda Protected
Species Act and having fines up to $25,000 or imprisonment for anyone catching
and/ or killing them.
In the end, spotted eagle rays are
truly magnificent creatures full of beauty, grace, and a twinge of power as
they fly through the water.
Links:
#spottedeagleray #savetheray
This article is very nice, it describes the characteristics and physical features of the spotted eagle ray very well. I also enjoyed that it described the conservation status of these rays. Overall, There are interesting facts in this article that I was unaware of and therefore I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see the effort to save the rays and protect further loss of the species. It was awesome seeing the spotted rays appear through the fog during our first dive and swim right past me.
ReplyDelete