Bluespotted ribbontail ray

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For fish with similar names, see Bluespotted stingray.

Bluespotted ribbontail ray
Photo of a flattened, disc-shaped fish with a greenish-yellow body covered in neon blue spots, and two neon blue stripes along the tail, lying on coral debris

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Batoidea
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Dasyatidae
Genus: Taeniura
Species:
T. lymma
Binomial name
Taeniura lymma
(Forsskål, 1775)
World map with blue coloring all around the periphery of the Indian Ocean from South Africa to northern Australia, and through Southeast Asia including the Philippines and New Guinea
Range of the bluespotted ribbontail ray
Synonyms
  • Raja lymma Forsskål, 1775
  • Trygon ornatus Gray, 1830

The bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma) is a

pectoral fin
disc, large protruding eyes, and a relatively short and thick tail with a deep fin fold underneath. It can be easily identified by its striking color pattern of many electric blue spots on a yellowish background, with a pair of blue stripes on the tail.

At night, small groups of bluespotted ribbontail rays follow the rising tide onto sandy flats to root for small benthic

aplacental viviparous, with females giving birth to litters of up to seven young. This ray is capable of injuring humans with its venomous tail spines, though it prefers to flee if threatened. Because of its beauty and size, the bluespotted ribbontail ray is popular with private aquarists
despite being poorly suited to captivity.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Photo of the front part of a stingray from the side, showing large protruding eyes and bright blue spots
A bluespotted ribbontail ray in Komodo National Park, Indonesia.

The bluespotted ribbontail ray was originally described as Raja lymma by

type specimen.[2] In 1837, German biologists Johannes Peter Müller and Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle created the genus Taeniura for Trygon ornatus, now known to be a junior synonym of this species.[4][5]

Other

blotched fantail ray (T. meyeni), which is closer to Dasyatis and Indo-Pacific Himantura.[6]

Distribution and habitat

Widespread in the

tidal pools, and has been sighted near seagrass beds.[1][8] Every summer, considerable numbers of bluespotted ribbontail rays arrive off South Africa.[3]

Description

Photo of a stingray lying on sand, showing its oval shape and brilliant blue spots
The bluespotted ribbontail ray has distinctive coloration.

The

papillae on the floor of the mouth.[3][9] The pelvic fins are narrow and angular. The thick, depressed tail measures about 1.5 times the disc length and bears one or two (usually two) serrated spines well behind the tail base; there is a deep fin fold on the ventral surface, reaching the tip of the tail, and a low midline ridge on the upper surface.[7][9]

The skin is generally smooth, save for perhaps a scattering of small thorns on the middle of the back.[9] The dorsal coloration is striking, consisting of numerous circular, neon blue spots on a yellowish brown or green background; the spots vary in size, becoming smaller and denser towards the disc margin. The tail has two stripes of the same blue running along each side as far as the spines. The eyes are bright yellow and the belly is white.[3][8] Individuals found off southern Africa may lack the blue tail stripes.[10] The bluespotted ribbontail ray grows to 35 cm (14 in) across, 80 cm (31 in) long, and 5 kg (11 lb).[5][11]

Biology and ecology

Photo of a stingray from the front, as it rests right next to a coral ledge
The bluespotted ribbontail ray hides amongst coral during the day.

One of the most abundant stingrays inhabiting Indo-Pacific reefs, the bluespotted ribbontail ray generally spends the day hidden alone inside caves or under coral ledges or other debris (including from

bony fishes; when prey is located, it is trapped by the body of the ray and maneuvered into the mouth with the disc. Other fishes, such as goatfish, frequently follow foraging rays, seeking food missed by the ray.[10][14]

Breeding in the bluespotted ribbontail ray occurs from late spring to summer; the male follows the female and nips at her disc, eventually biting and holding onto her for

gestation period is uncertain, but is thought to be between four and twelve months long. Females bear litters of up to seven young, each a miniature version of the adult measuring around 13–14 cm (5.1–5.5 in) across.[13][15] Males attain sexual maturity at a disc width of 20–21 cm (7.9–8.3 in); the maturation size of females is unknown.[5][15]

Known predators of the bluespotted ribbontail ray include

tapeworms Aberrapex manjajiae,[17] Anthobothrium taeniuri,[18] Cephalobothrium taeniurai,[19] Echinobothrium elegans and E. helmymohamedi,[20][21] Kotorelliella jonesi,[22] Polypocephalus saoudi,[23] and Rhinebothrium ghardaguensis and R. taeniuri,[24] the monogeneans Decacotyle lymmae,[25] Empruthotrema quindecima,[26] Entobdella australis,[27] and Pseudohexabothrium taeniurae,[28] the flatworms Pedunculacetabulum ghardaguensis and Anaporrhutum albidum,[29][30] the nematode Mawsonascaris australis,[31] the copepod Sheina orri,[32] and the protozoan Trypanosoma taeniurae.[33] This ray has been observed soliciting cleanings from the bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) by raising the margins of its disc and pelvic fins.[12]

Human interactions

pregnant bluespotted ribbontail ray at The Deep
.

While timid and innocuous towards humans, the bluespotted ribbontail ray is capable of inflicting an excruciating wound with its

gillnets, longlines, spears, and fence traps.[1][15]

The

artisanal and commercial fisheries, and by local collecting for the aquarium trade.[1]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T116850766A116851089.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  2. ^ a b Eschmeyer, W.N. and R. Fricke, eds. lymma, Raja Archived 2012-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. Catalog of Fishes electronic version (January 15, 2010). Retrieved on February 17, 2010.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-86825-394-4
    .
  4. ^ Eschmeyer, W.N. and R. Fricke, eds. Taeniura Archived 2012-02-21 at the Wayback Machine. Catalog of Fishes electronic version (January 15, 2010). Retrieved on February 17, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2009). "Taeniura lymma" in FishBase. November 2009 version.
  6. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1996.tb02189.x
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8248-1808-1
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-55209-629-1
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-92-5-104302-8
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-920033-01-9
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-77007-345-6
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-930118-18-1
    .
  13. ^ a b c d Bester, C. Biological Profiles: Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray Archived 2016-01-04 at the Wayback Machine. Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department. Retrieved on November 13, 2009.
  14. ^ a b Miller, J. (2002). Taeniura lymma (On-line). Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved on November 13, 2009.
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-0-674-03411-2
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0-521-81597-0
    .
  17. S2CID 28791035
    .
  18. S2CID 43767236
    .
  19. ^ Ramadan, M.M. (1986). "Cestodes of the genus Cephalobothrium Shipley and Hornel, 1906 (Lecanicephaliidae), with description of C. ghardagense n. sp. and C. taeniurai n. sp. from the Red Sea fishes". Japanese Journal of Parasitology. 35 (1): 11–15.
  20. ^ Tyler, G.A. (II) (2006). "Tapeworms of elasmobranchs (part II) a monograph on the Diphyllidea (Platyhelminthes, Cestoda)". Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum. 20: i–viii, 1–142.
  21. PMID 7086222
    .
  22. ^ Palm, H.W. & I. Beveridge (May 2002). "Tentaculariid cestodes of the order Trypanorhyncha (Platyhelminthes) from the Australian region". Records of the South Australian Museum. 35 (1): 49–78.
  23. PMID 7153551
    .
  24. PMID 6736718
    .
  25. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7410.2004.tb00142.x
    .
  26. ^ Chisholm, L.A. & I.D. Whittington (1999). "Empruthotrema quindecima sp. n. (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) from the nasal fossae of Taeniura lymma (Dasyatididae) from Heron Island and Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia". Folia Parasitologica. 46 (4): 274–278.
  27. PMID 9602390
    .
  28. PMID 8627482
    .
  29. PMID 6512282
    .
  30. ^ Razarihelisoa, M. (1959). "Sur quelques trematodes digenes de poissons de Nossibe (Madagascar)". Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France. 84: 421–434.
  31. S2CID 27528485
    .
  32. ^ Kornicker, L.S. (1986). "Redescription of Sheina orri Harding, 1966, a myodocopid ostracode collected on fishes off Queensland, Australia". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 99 (4): 639–646.
  33. doi:10.1071/ZO9890015
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  34. ISBN 978-0-7938-0575-4
    .
  35. ^ Ferreira, A.S. (2013), Breeding and juvenile growth of the ribbontail stingray Taeniura lymma at Oceanário de Lisboa (PDF), University of Lisbon

External links

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