Whitespotted Eagle Ray
Like all eagle rays, whitespotted eagle rays are active swimmers and do not lie dormant on the seafloor as benthic stingrays do. Associated often with coral reefs and estuaries, whitespotted eagle rays occasionally make their way into estuarine habitats as well. They use their shovel-shaped snout to search for and dig out prey in the […]
Yellow spotted stingray
The yellow spotted stingray (also known as the yellow stingray or the maid stingray) can be found in tropical, sandy-bottom and seagrass habitats. Occupying shallow depths ranging between 1 and 25 meters, it can be found near sandy beaches and the edges of coral reefs. Like most rays of the Urotrygonidae family, the yellow spotted […]
Caribbean whiptail ray
Also called the Atlantic chupare, the Caribbean whiptail ray mostly inhabits nearshore brackish and coastal waters, though it is commonly found at several offshore coral reefs and atolls in the western Caribbean. Juveniles may use mangrove habitats as nurseries, moving into coral reef-associated habitats as they grow. The species is important to both fisheries and […]
Southern stingray
A diamond-shaped bottom-dwelling ray species, the southern stingray is common in shallow temperate and tropical coastal waters in the Atlantic Ocean. The southern stingray burrows in sand and seagrass to dig up prey items, in turn stirring up sediments and other small animals. This ‘bioturbation’ not only frees up prey items for other species – […]
Giant manta ray
Highly intelligent and social creatures, giant manta rays in some regions spend their days in large groups and at cleaning stations in shallow waters and then move into deeper waters at night to feed. They are often found concurrently with whale shark aggregations, as both species feed on the highly concentrated zooplankton produced by fish […]