Rays and Skates: Intere'sting' Facts

Rays and skates: intere‘sting’ facts

Stingrays and skates feed on Rays and skates are DID YOU KNOW? crustaceans, small fish, snails, flattened fish that are closely clams, shrimp and other small There are many different Rays protect themselves with sea creatures. related to sharks. All belong Overfishing, habitat loss and types of ray including venomous spines or barbs, to a group of fish called climate change are the major Stingrays,Electric rays, in their tail. Skates rely on Elasmobranchs. threats to rays. They are also Butterfly rays, Round rays, thorny projections on their hunted for their gill rakers Manta rays, guitarfish, backs and tails. (used for feeding) for use and sawfish. in Chinese medicine.

The natural predators of stingrays are sharks, other large fish, seals, 539 and sea lions. Number of ray species assessed Fossil records date Stingrays under IUCN Red List. Stingrays are ovoviviparous, DID YOU KNOW? back to the Jurassic period, meaning the young are hatched 150 million from eggs that are held within 2008 saw one of our 107 the body. Skates are oviparous, female Bluespotted Ribbontail years ago! The number classified meaning they lay eggs. rays give birth to a set of twins – as threatened. a European first!

Electric rays are named for their ability to generate and discharge a strong electric current to DID YOU KNOW? stun prey and for defence from potential . Humans should do the ‘stingray predators shuffle’ when walking along sandy bottoms to give any stingrays in the DID YOU KNOW? vicinity enough warning to swim is part of the European The smallest ray is the Short-Nose The Deep away. Don’t forget to wear sandals! Breeding Programme for the Bluespotted Electric ray which is approximately and 10cm across and weighs about Ribbontail ray Blue Spot stingray, as well as the species monitoring 400g. The Oceanic Manta ray is the largest ray reaching up to 7m in wing programme for the Honeycomb Whiptail span and weighs 2,000kg. ray. This means we are helping to safeguard populations of these species and are leading the way in pioneering new husbandry techniques.