If you’ve gone swimming in the deep blue
ocean, you’d most likely see one of the most beautiful creatures in the deep
swimming around the ocean floor.
The Taeniura lymma or blue spotted rays, also called blue spotted fantail rays, ribbontail
stingray, and blue spotted stingrays, are one of the few colorful stingray
species that are known for their large, blue spots seen around their fin and
blue colored side-stripes found along their tails. They have an angular and rounded
snout and their bodies are broadly rounded around the outer corners. Their
short tail tapers at the end and is usually longer than their body’s length.
Like all stingrays, they have a stinging
spine found on their tails, but this is located further
from its tail base compared to most stingrays. Color varies from gray, grown,
yellow, olive green and reddish brown. These stingrays can grow to around 70
cm.
These colorful creatures can be spotted in
most coral reefs, with depths ranging up to 20 meters. They hardly ever stay
under the sand and prefer to hover around the sea floor. They’re abundant in
the Indo-West Pacific reefs, Red Sea, East Africa, Solomon Islands, Japan and
even down to Australia.
Blue spotted rays move around in groups,
migrating from one shallow, sandy area to another looking for their favorite meal.
These stingrays live off crabs, shrimps, worms and mollusks which commonly hide
under the sand. During low tide, they disperse and usually stay near ledges and
caves until the tide comes back in.
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