LIVE WEBCAM WITH COWNOSE AND HONEYCOMB RAYS
- Local Time
- Location: California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States
- Source: www.calacademy.org
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Info: Live streaming webcam showing cownose rays and honeycomb rays in an aquarium at the California Acadeny of Sciences in California.
Rays are flat, cartilaginous fish, closely related to sharks.
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More info: Cownose rays can be found in the Atlantic Ocean along western Africa, the eastern United States, the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Caribbean. They are considered an open ocean species, but may also inhabit inshore, shallow bays and estuaries. They prefer warm temperate and tropical waters to depths of 72 feet. Cownose rays are related to sharks and skates.
The cownose ray is a brown, kite-shaped ray with a long, whip-like tail. It has a wingspan of up to three feet and can weigh as much as 50 pounds. It varies in colour from brown to olive green with a whitish underside. It has a long, brown whip-like tail with venomous spines at the base and its squared, indented snout resembles a cow’s nose.
Cownose rays school and migrate in large groups, sometimes up to thousands of individuals. They are strong swimmers and can migrate long distances. Some of the predators that are known to prey on cownose ray include cobia sandbar shark and bull shark.
Spotted eagle rays can be found globally in tropical regions, including the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. They inhabit shallow coastal waters by coral reefs and bays and in depths down to 260 feet (80 m).
The spotted eagle ray is easily identified with the upperside being blackish-blue with white spots or circles and the underside a contrasting white. This coloration provides a type of camouflage called countershading. The body of the spotted eagle ray is flat and its wing-like pectoral fins give it a somewhat diamond shape. The duck-like snout is round and pointed at the tip and the dark coloured, whip-like tail has up to six barbed spines.
The body of the Spotted eagle ray can be more than ten feet (3 m) wide and total length, including the tail, can be more than 20 feet (4.9 m). Weight usually varies between 400-500 pounds (181-227 kg).
Predators of the spotted eagle ray are sharks, including the silvertip shark and great hammerhead. Sharks have been reported to follow spotted eagle rays during the birthing season, feeding on newborn pups.