Wednesday, 13 October 2010

GUARDIAN ANGELL NETS A VIOLET STINGRAY

The crew of the Guardian Angell netted a fish with a real sting in its tail when they hauled their nets near Whalfirth, at the north end of Yell Sound (approx. 60°40’N 1°10’W) on Tuesday (5 October).  They were surprised to find a live stingray amongst the catch and handled it with great care due to the large poisonous barb in its tail. 

The stingray was donated to the NAFC Marine Centre where staff were amazed to find that rather than being a ‘common stingray’, which is rare around Shetland, it was in fact a violet stingray (Pteroplatytrygonviolacea).  There are only nine previously published records of this species being found in the north-eastern Atlantic, two of which were in the North Sea and the furthest north of those was in the central North Sea (approx. 57°N 5°E).  So this is a new northerly record for this species.

The identifying features of the violet stingray are the plain dark colouration on both the upper and lower surfaces, a membranous fold of skin on the underside of the tail underneath the spine and a short snout which only protrudes slightly from the front margin of the animal.

Violet stingrays are common and widespread in tropical and warm temperate oceanic waters, including the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  This species has been recorded from the surface to 380 m depth and can either live on the bottom or in the water column.  It feeds on jellyfish, squid, fish and small crustaceans.  Females of this species incubate eggs internally and give birth to live young rather than laying ‘mermaids purses’ as is the case in many other skates and rays.

The stingray caught was a female, 55 cm across the wings, the body was 47 cm in length and the total length was 112 cm although the end of the tail was missing.  

Dr Chevonne Laurenson of the NAFC Marine Centre said: We are delighted to have been able to identify such a rare fish and are grateful to the Guardian Angell crew for donating their find.  We are always keen to hear of unusual catches so that information and photos can be added to the new Discovery Zone section of our website.”

Further information:

For further information, please contact: Chevonne Laurenson, NAFC Marine Centre, tel 01595 772000, email chevonne.laurenson@nafc.uhi.ac.uk or visit www.nafc.uhi.ac.uk

Or, Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465, email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com or visit www.shaw-online.com