Page 108 - World of Animals - Book of Sharks & Ocean Predators

Sharks & Ocean Predators
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Meet the family

Rays These sly hunters are perfectly

adapted to their habitat

Spotted eagle ray
SPOTTED EAGLE RAY
Aetobatus narinari
Class Chondrichthyes The ray that can almost take off
The group of species known as eagle rays have large
and elegant pectoral fins that both look and move

like the wings on a bird. Found in shallow coastal
seas, these fins are mostly used for swimming, but on

Territory Tropical coastal occasion these rays have been witnessed leaping fully
waters worldwide
Diet Molluscs and crustaceans out of the water in spectacular aerial displays. Due
Lifespan Unknown to their sheer size and weight, spotted eagle rays are
Adult weight Up to 230kg / rarely preyed upon by all but the largest of beasts.
507lbs Electrocytes are the electricity-
Conservation Status Digging their own food of hard-shelled critters such producing cells that give these rays
as lobsters and oysters out of the seabed is easy for their shock – they are stacked up
end-to-end in the ray’s specialised
the spotted eagle, with their shovel-shaped noses and
electrogenic organs, much like a row
NEAR THREATENED specialised teeth making it easy to extract the tasty of batteries.
parts from the shells.

Cownose ray COWNOSE RAY

The migratory species that Rhinoptera bonasus
Class Chondrichthyes
gathers in groups
Cownose rays are famous for their ocean migrations
along the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico, featuring
in many glossy photographs of schools of up to 10,000 Territory Tropical eastern and
western Atlantic Ocean
individuals swimming to and from the seasonal feeding Diet Oysters and crustaceans
grounds. It’s thought that these rays take temperature Lifespan 13-18 years
cues from the water and visual cues from the sun Adult weight Approx 15.4kg
/ 34lbs
before embarking on these journeys, and Conservation Status
when they get to their destination, there’s
only one thing to do: feast. By beating their

The cownose ray has a domed head and a rounded pectoral fins, they create strong currents close NEAR THREATENED
snout with an indentation in the centre. This gives to the seabed in a bid to uncover their prey.
the appearance of a bi-lobed nose, much like that of
their farmyard namesakes’.

Stingray
A fish with a black belt in self-defence

Stingrays have the classic fl at-bodied silhouette
COMMON STINGRAY of the ray family, with a skeleton made of
Dasyatis pastinaca cartilage, undulating fins and a long, tapering

Class Chondrichthyes
tail. They spend their time cruising through
the shallow waters of coastal seas, feeding
on shelled molluscs and crustaceans, rooting
around on the seabed in search of their dinner.
Territory Coastal waters of However, this species’ trump card is its tail
temperate seas
Diet Crabs, mussels, oysters barb – the thing that puts the ‘sting’ into
Lifespan 15-25 years ‘stingray’. This barb is found about one third
Adult weight Up to 350kg / of the way down a stingray’s tail, and it can be
790lbs
Conservation Status a formidable-looking spike containing potent
venom. Stingrays are generally docile creatures
Like their cousins the sharks,
and so a barb attack is almost always in self- stingrays possess electrical sensors

DATA DEFICIENT defence – when the ray needs to fight, the tail known as ampullae of Lorenzini.
can whip up and deliver a fatal blow. They can sense the natural electrical
pulse of living things around them,
helping to find prey.

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