A group of captive-bred small-eyed rays have been born at Newquay’s Blue Reef Aquarium, with more rays expected to hatch out over the coming weeks.
A number of ray egg-cases had been donated to the aquarium and it is hoped these will go òn to form a captive breeding population.
The ray, usually found on sandy sea beds, can grow up to 90 cm in length and will often cover itself with sand until just its eyes and spiracles appear above the surface.
Following an incubation period of up to seven months, the 10-centimetre-long babies emerge from the egg-case as perfect miniature replicas of the adults. Both the egg-cases and newly hatched rays are currently on display in a special nursery tank at the aquarium
Blue Reef Aquarium’s Steve Matchett said: “Virtually every species of ray and shark is under increasing threat in the wild as they tend to reproduce relatively slowly and are subject to a variety of hazards, including loss of habitat, pollution and over fishing.”
Small-eyed rays are most commonly found in waters from the British Isles to Morocco, and are currently designated as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
For more information on visiting the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay go to www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/newquay/
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