Kuhl's maskray

Appearance

The bluespotted stingray has a flat disc-like rhomboid body up to 47 centimeters in diameter and 70 centimeters in total length. Their coloring is a dark green with blue spots with a light white underbelly also known as countershading. Its snout is very short and broadly angular along with its angular disc. The rays' bright coloration serves as a warning for its venomous spines. The ray has a very long tail accommodating two venomous spines on the base of the tail. The tail is about twice as long as the body of the ray, and the barbs or spines are two different sizes, one being very large and the other a medium-sized barb. The bluespotted stingray has bright yellow eyes that are positioned to allow them a wide angle of view. Since the gills are located ventrally, the spiracles allow water to reach the gills while resting or feeding on the benthos. The spiracles are located directly behind the eyes. The mouth is located on the ventral side of the body, which promotes the unique foraging technique of stingrays. Rays are normally solitary individuals but can occur in groups. One unique characteristic of the bluespotted stingray is that they rarely bury themselves in the sand, only to hide from predators, unlike the majority of stingrays who bury themselves regularly to hunt.

Behavior

The bluespotted stingray has a flat disc-like rhomboid body up to 47 centimeters in diameter and 70 centimeters in total length. Their coloring is a dark green with blue spots with a light white underbelly also known as countershading. Its snout is very short and broadly angular along with its angular disc. The rays' bright coloration serves as a warning for its venomous spines. The ray has a very long tail accommodating two venomous spines on the base of the tail. The tail is about twice as long as the body of the ray, and the barbs or spines are two different sizes, one being very large and the other a medium-sized barb. The bluespotted stingray has bright yellow eyes that are positioned to allow them a wide angle of view. Since the gills are located ventrally, the spiracles allow water to reach the gills while resting or feeding on the benthos. The spiracles are located directly behind the eyes. The mouth is located on the ventral side of the body, which promotes the unique foraging technique of stingrays. Rays are normally solitary individuals but can occur in groups. One unique characteristic of the bluespotted stingray is that they rarely bury themselves in the sand, only to hide from predators, unlike the majority of stingrays who bury themselves regularly to hunt.

Habitat

The bluespotted stingray is commonly found in waters of depths about 0–90 meters , being commonly found in sand and mudflats, but have also been encountered near rocky coral reefs, and sea grass beds. This stingray is found in a tropical climate at 29°N- 31°S, and 20°E- 171°W. At high tide the bluespotted stingray moves into the shallow lagoons and reef flats. It is found in northern Australia, Kenya, Madagascar, The island of Mauritius, Somalia, the east coast of South Africa, India. The bluespotted stingray is in almost the entire continental waters of Asia, including the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Java Sea, Banda Sea, Celebes Sea, Andaman Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Reproduction

The bluespotted stingray is ovoviviparous. The embryos are retained in eggs within the mother's body until they are ready to hatch. The embryos receive nourishment from the mothers' uterine fluid. Mothers give birth to up to seven pups per litter; these pups range from 6 inches to 13 inches long at birth. The bluespotted stingray passes its offspring 32 sets of chromosomes. The mother also has an annual reproductive cycle. Studies show that the mating season is in October and November and the ovulating season is in the Australian summer , which coincides with the embryonic development.

Food

The bluespotted stingray feeds on shrimp, small bony fish, mollusks, crabs and other worms. Due to the fact that this ray is a shallow bottom feeder, it has a small variety of marine life to prey on. The bluespotted stingray overpowers its prey by pinning them to the bottom of the seafloor with its fins. The bluespotted stingray has numerous tiny teeth, with the lower jaw being slightly convex. They also, like most stingrays, have plate-like teeth to crush prey.

Predators

In Queensland, Australia there are many areas for high protection of the bluespotted stingray, three being the Shoalwater, Corio Bay's Area Ramsar Site, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. A major threat to the bluespotted stingray is the destruction of coral reefs mainly in the north Western Pacific. The rays dwell in these reefs and the destruction and pollution from fertilizers and pesticides hurt them. The ray is commonly caught in the Java Sea by fishermen trawling and by Danish seine boats in large quantities. The bluespotted stingray is the second most significant species out of the sharks, rays, and skate family to be fished, contributing to about 700 kilograms per boat in 2006-2007.Larger elasmobranchs, such as hammerhead sharks, prey on the bluespotted stingray. The rays coloration is a warning for the highly venomous barbs, thus few animals attempt to overpower this ray. The hammerhead shark uses its head to pin down the bluespotted stingray, while it is in shock and much weaker.