Spotted eagle ray
The spotted eagle ray is a large, graceful marine creature found in tropical and subtropical waters, including the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Characterized by its impressive ten-foot (three-meter) wingspan and a flattened body, the spotted eagle ray boasts a distinctive appearance with a shovel-shaped snout, large eyes, and a back adorned with numerous white, yellow, or greenish-blue spots against a darker backdrop. Weighing up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms) and capable of reaching lengths of 16 feet (five meters), this species is known for its ability to glide effortlessly through the water and even leap briefly out of it.
As a carnivore, the spotted eagle ray feeds on a variety of marine organisms, such as clams, oysters, and crustaceans, using its unique feeding technique to uncover prey hidden in the sand. The reproductive cycle involves giving birth to one to four young annually after a gestation period of about 12 months. Unfortunately, the spotted eagle ray faces threats from commercial fishing, leading to its classification as a near-threatened species. Its natural defenses include venomous spines on its tail, which can inflict serious harm on potential predators. Overall, the spotted eagle ray is a fascinating species, contributing to the biodiversity of ocean ecosystems.
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Spotted eagle ray
The spotted eagle ray, like the others in the eagle ray family, is a graceful swimmer with its ten-foot (three-meter) wing-like fin spread. It is one of the few species of eagle rays in the tropical and subtropical waters around North America. The spotted eagle ray can also be found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Myliobatidae
Genus: Aetobatus
Species: Narinari
Like others in its family, the spotted eagle ray is a large sea creature with a flattened body and broad, wing-like pectoral fins. These fins taper into points at their tips. The front edges of these fins are attached to the body near the eyes so that the head and snout extend beyond the fin edges. Some other species in the families of skates and rays have fins which extend up to and include their heads and snouts. Some people say that the head, shovel-shaped snout, and large eyes with overhanging eyebrows of the spotted eagle ray resemble those of an eagle. Its body, which is wider than it is long, is ten feet (three meters) across. A spotted eagle ray may grow to a length of 16 feet (five meters). Its smooth, skin may be gray, olive-gray, or chestnut-brown. A multitude of white, yellow, greenish-blue spots covers the backside, while the underside is white and unspotted. The long, black, whip-like tail has a fleshy dorsal, or back, fin, behind which are two venomous, or poisonous, spines. A spotted eagle ray may easily weigh up to 500 pounds (225 kilograms). The largest species of eagle rays in the family reach 15 feet (4 1/2 meters) across and weigh 800 pounds (360 kilograms).
The wing-like fins allow the spotted eagle ray to glide quickly, gracefully, and with seemingly little effort through the water. It is even able to swim fast enough to burst from the water and to leap into the air for short distances. These creatures usually cruise the world's tropical and subtropical oceans alone except when they are migrating and spawning. Groups may be small or contain thousands of rays.
Spotted eagle rays are carnivores, or meat-eaters. Spotted eagle rays feed upon a wide variety of sea life which includes clams, oysters, lobsters, and crabs. They may also eat marine worms, sea pens, sea snails, and some fish. They find many of these foods by squirting streams of water from their mouths to remove the sand from prey hiding in the bottom. They are able to squirt at the sand and leave a hole one foot (30 centimeters) deep. Plates of hard teeth in their duck-billed mouths crush the shells of their prey so they can eat the soft flesh and then spit out the shells.
Spotted eagle rays give birth once each year. Mating season is usually in the mid-summer, although it varies with location. Females may have between one to four young after 12 months. Each baby ray weighs one pound (1/2 kilogram) at birth and is born with its stinger. Like the babies of mammals, baby rays drink a type of milk from their mothers. Spottted eagles rays can reproduce when they are between four and six years old. Nothing else is known of their development or life span.
Several species of sharks are known to prey on spotted eagle rays. The spotted eagle ray greets an intruder or attacker with a stab of its poisonous spine. A quick flip of the tail over the back can seriously injure or kill the other creature. When they are young, the rays can flip their tails in either direction as well as over their backs. Adult rays can only flip their tails forward. A new spine grows in the place of one which becomes damaged or lost. Some rays have two spines because the first has not fallen off before the second one grows.
The spotted eagle ray is one of the few species of eagle rays in the waters around North America. Around 20 species in two genera swim the world's tropical and subtropical oceans. Due in part to the commercial fishing industry, the spotted eagle ray is a near threatened species.
Bibliography
Bester, Cathleen. “Aetobatus Marinari – Discover Fishes.” Florida Museum, 28 Dec. 2023, www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/aetobatus-narinari. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Pederson, Tom. “ADW: Aetobatus Narinari: Information.” Animal Diversity Web, 2011, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Aetobatus‗narinari. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.