Why do stingrays need a round tank

This stingray scored itself a yummy meal! The California Stingray, like other stingrays need a very large tank with a sandy bottom void of rocks and obstruction. They can become quite tame in captivity, however they need a tank that is at least gallons to accommodate their 9" body and even longer tail!

They become quite tame in captivity. Maintenance: Feed all kinds of large meaty foods like small pieces of fish, squid, shrimp, crabs, prawns, molluscs, and live goldfish. Best to feed small amounts several times a day. California Stingrays or Round Stingrays are most abundant off southern California and northern Baja California at depths up to 70 feet.

They like shallow, sandy areas. Foods: In the wild they obtain much of their food by burrowing in the substrate. Their diet includes worms, crabs, snails, clams and small fishes.

Social Behaviors: Gets along with its own kind and other fish. Watch smaller fish as they could become lunch although they usually leave other fish alone unless they are acting sick or distressed.

Sex: Sexual differences: Unknown. Light: Recommended light levels: No special requirements. There are one to six pups, depending upon the size of the female. It takes 3 months for the round stingray young to develop and they are approximately 3 inches wide at birth. Sexual maturity is reached in 2.

Temperature: Best kept between 54 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit 12 to 22 degrees C. At 20 cm they weight about 1. Will sometimes bury itself in the sand. Availability: This fish is available from time to time. More Classifieds. The spine is a unique weapon in that it not only can puncture or lacerate its attacker, but also can transmit a venom from the mucous coating on the spine via grooves running along the ventral side.

This venom can cause intense pain and throbbing — even the toughest surfers have been brought to tears by stingrays. Stingray spines are like fingernails, in that they lack nerves and grow back after a period of time Lowe et al. Round stingrays possess the ability to replace damaged or lost caudal spines outside of the typical shedding period.

Undergraduate student Justin Hackett examined how tooth morphology varies across age and sex of round stingrays. Results showed that round stingray dentition is most influenced by age and sex.

Female round stingray teeth are rounded and diamond shaped. Females do not exhibit differences in tooth shape between juveniles and adult stages, but mature females have significantly larger teeth than juvenile females. Mature male round stingray teeth are larger than mature female round stingray teeth and become more triangular in shape only during the breeding season, as males use their teeth to hold females for during copulation. After mating season, male round stingray detention returns to flat, plate-like teeth used for crushing clams and crustaceans.

The city of Seal Beach, CA has historically implemented various strategies in order to help reduce the number of stingray related injuries. Many proposed programs did not have a significant impact on reducing the number of stingray related injuries and have been discontinued. Lowe et al. Follow up mark and recapture studies at Seal Beach reported low recapture rates despite a high sampling effort, indicating that the round stingray population in Seal Beach is very mobile with a high turnover rate Vaudo and Lowe , Lowe et al.

Therefore, the best defense against stingray related injuries is to remember to shuffle your feet and to educate beach visitors about the local wildlife they may come into close contact with during their visit. Vaudo and Lowe investigated the fine-scale movement patterns of round stingrays caught in Seal Beach near the mouth of the San Gabriel River and determined whether round stingrays exhibit any site fidelity to Seal Beach.

The same female was then detected back at Seal Beach one year after initial tagging. Fine-scale precise movement data was collected via active tracking following the emitted signal from a tagged individual using a directional hydrophone. Active tracking showed that round stingrays exhibited short movements interspersed by hr.

Possible explanations of this increased activity could be to find more desirable conditions, increase foraging success, or find potential mates. Vaudo and Lowe found that round stingrays seasonally congregate for a few weeks at Seal Beach before dispersing to other locations in search of suitable breeding grounds.

Hale and Lowe conducted a growth and age structure study of the round stingray U. Estimates of age were determined by analysing the vertebral growth rings of round stingrays U. Growth rate coefficient K and theoretical maximum disc width WD were estimated using the von Bertalanffy growth model.

This information was used in conjunction with size-frequency data from periodic sampling conducted at Seal Beach to determine age structure of the local round stingray population. From this study it was found that the population of round stingrays at Seal Beach is composed mostly of sexually mature adults. Additional findings were that round stingrays are slow growing relative to other species in the family Urolophidae.

Round stingrays have an annual reproductive cycle with peaks in mating occurring from May-July. Round stingrays have a gestation period of months and may give birth to litters of pups. Birth occurs from August - November Babel , Mull et al. Round stingrays are aplacental viviparous ovoviviparous , meaning they give birth to live young and embryos do not have an attached placenta Lyons and Lowe Jirik and Lowe used ultrasonography to examine the condition of pregnant females non-invasively.

Females sexually segregate to avoid aggressive interactions during non-mating seasons and to seek warmer coastal waters during gestation Hoisington and Lowe , Mull et al. Males are not found in warmer coastal waters as much as females possibly due to a sex-specific energetic cost from residing in areas of increased temperatures for extended periods Jirik and Lowe Anaheim Bay is a restored estuarine habitat and is a proposed thermal refuge for female round stingrays Jirik and Lowe A protein skimmer and an efficient biological filter are important equipment to maintain good water quality.

Rays are also very sensitive to stray electrical currents, so a grounding probe is a wise investment to eliminate any stray current that may be emitted by electric aquarium equipment. It is important to choose tank mates that will not harm your ray.

Some suitable invertebrate tank mates include slipper lobsters, spiny lobsters, linkia stars, brittle stars and pencil urchins.

Keep in mind that invertebrates may end up as stingray food at some point. Appropriate fish tank mates include cardinals , hawkfish , squirrelfish , batfish, goatfish , snappers and jacks as well as cleaner fish and any other specimens that do not nip or chase the rays.

Urobatis jamaicensis Max. It prefers sandy open areas, where it digs and fans its disc to find burrowed prey. It is a relatively hardy and small species, and is a good candidate for captive keeping. They have also been known to reproduce in captivity. Tank size should be not less than gallons. Urobatis maculatus Max. Size: 16 inches Origin: Baja California to Gulf of California Temperament: Docile Additional Information: This ray is a hardy fish that is beige with small dark spots on its round disc.

It prefers sandy or muddy open areas and rocky areas near reefs, as well as bays. It hunts by digging in the substrate for worms and crustaceans. Its small size makes it an ideal candidate for captive keeping. Tank size should be at least gallons. Taenuria lymma Max. It inhabits tidal flats, lagoons and sandy regions on reef margins. Occasionally they also get capelin a small smelt-like fish , clams, and squid.

Round rays are on view in the Shorebird Sanctuary exhibit and in the Ray Touchpool on the second floor outdoors. Most abundant in southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico. Round rays prefer sandy or muddy bottoms, but are occasionally found in rocky reef areas.

They most commonly inhabit water depths from intertidal to less than 15 m 50 ft in depth, but may also be found in water as deep as 91 m ft. It is not unusual to find them in greater numbers at estuary mouths and shallow bays during breeding and pupping times of the year April to September.

Sloughs and beaches are other favorite areas. It does not have a dorsal fin. Its sturdy tail is less than half the length of its body and ends in a true caudal fin, unlike the thin whip-like tails of other stingrays that usually lack a caudal fin. The eyes and spiracles are on top of the head and the mouth, nostrils, and gill slits are on the ventral side.

The sting is located on top of the tail about half way back from the base of the tail. An average sized ray usually has a spine that is 2. Round rays vary in color from tan to brown to gray and from plain to spotted or mottled with varying pattern shades giving them a dappled appearance.

The dappling is diffuse in most round rays, but in some, the patterns are well defined. The underside is a solid whitish or light yellow color. The largest round ray reported had a total length of Maximum reported weight is approximately 1. Most round rays are much smaller than this and more commonly seen with a disc diameter of This species feeds mostly during the day, relying on sight and smell to locate prey items. The mouth and large fins are used to remove bottom sediment when exposing buried food.

The diet consists primarily of bottom dwelling invertebrates such as worms, shrimp, amphipods, clams and other small mollusks, and small fishes. Although predominantly bottom feeders, they have been observed in the upper water column preying on small fishes.