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Stingray (sea cat). Stingray fish. Lifestyle and habitat of the stingray In which body of water does the stingray stingray live

Stingray ( catfish)

I saw the photo and immediately wanted to know what kind of “humanoid” creatures they were :-) And it turns out to be children of a sea cat!

Sea cat (Stingray, European stingray, Stingray stingray) - Dasyatis pastinaca - a rather thermophilic fish belonging to the class Cartilaginous fish, order Stingrays (Dasyatiformes), family Stingrays (stingrays, stinging rays) (Dasyatididae).

Stingrays are known by the name of the sea cat. The name "sea cat" most likely received the stingray for appearance- a stem resembling a tail and habits: like cute domestic cats, the stingray has a predilection for night hunting in shallow water. AT calm state the stingray burrows into the sand, leaving a protruding stalk on the surface, the stalk trembles (like a cat's) attracting curious victims ....

The fur cat has a diamond-shaped or rounded body disc. The tail is long, filiform, armed with a long serrated spike; individuals with two spikes are also found. The dorsal and caudal fins of this species are absent. The body is naked, without spines and spinules. The upper side of the disk is gray or olive-brown, the lower side is white, often with a brown border around the edge. Usually the stingray reaches 1-2 m in length, but sometimes there are individuals up to 2.5 m long, females are larger than males.

The sea cat lives in the waters Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Europe and Africa, often kept in large flocks, several thousand individuals each. We find it all over Black Sea coast enters the Sea of ​​Azov. The sea cat is a heat-loving bottom fish; it appears off our shores only in the summer, leaving them again in the fall. Usually the sea cat stays at the bottom, often half buried in the ground, and seems to be a shapeless motionless mass. However, periods of rest are replaced by unexpected rapid "ups". Having risen from the bottom, the stingray “floats” or “flies”, flapping its fins like wings, and stirring up sand and silt to make it easier to swallow crustaceans and mollusks living at the bottom.

The main food of the sea cat are small fish, crustaceans and other benthic animals.

All stingrays are ovoviviparous, but in addition to nutrition due to the yolk of the egg, the cubs that develop in the womb also receive a special nutritious liquid rich in proteins - something like milk.

This liquid is secreted by special outgrowths located on the walls of the “womb”. Bundles of such outgrowths penetrate into small holes located behind the eyes - sprinklers - of the embryos, and the nutrient fluid enters directly into them. digestive tract. In our waters, juveniles are born in June or July. Each female gives birth to 4 to 12 cubs. Despite the presence of spikes, this process occurs painlessly for the female due to the fact that in her womb the flat-bodied embryos are rolled into a tube resembling a cigar in shape. As soon as the cub leaves the mother's body, it turns around and swims away.

The commercial value of this stingray is small, although it is sometimes caught in significant numbers. Sea cat liver contains up to 63 % fat rich in vitamin D. Wounds inflicted by a thorn of this species are extremely painful.

In the waters of Southern Primorye, another species is quite common - the red stingray. (Dasyatis akajei) not exceeding 1 m in length. giant stingray(Urolophoides giganteus), reaching a length of 2.3 m, is extremely rare here stingray matsubara(Dasyatis matsubarai).

The consumption of stingray meat is not widespread. Sometimes the needle of a caught stingray is used as a weapon - it can become the tip of a spear. Fish oil is obtained from the liver of stingrays.

However, the stingray is dangerous - it can kill a person. Most often this happens when swimmers step on a fish buried in the sand. Serrated needles can inflict serious wounds on the enemy. Stingray venom is very toxic, it causes spasmodic pain, muscle paralysis, and sometimes leads to death of the victim.

Catfish- the most numerous of European stingrays. This animal can be found in the Atlantic Ocean, near british isles and Spain, as well as in the Mediterranean.

The fish themselves are sensitive to changes in water temperature. At a temperature of +6 ° C ... +7 ° C, she still survives, but at a lower temperature she already dies. In the seas of the North and South America, from New Jersey to Brazil, there is an American stingray. There are species of stingrays that can live in fresh water, for example, in the mouths of American rivers.

The coloration of stingrays varies depending on the habitat. In some stingrays, the back is dark brown, in others it is dark gray. The lower part of the body - the chest - can be white or light cream.

The Indians of Central America make spearheads, daggers and needles from stingray needles, and drums are covered with leather. According to ancient Greek mythology, Odysseus was killed with such an arrow.

In West Africa and Ceylon, whips were made from the prickly tails of small rays, with which criminals were punished, and on Seychelles such whips were kept to intimidate wives

The stingray needle inspires fear in fishermen. If a stingray gets into their net, they cut off its tail and only then the crippled animal is released back into the sea. Such a fate befell many large stingrays.

The fishermen of southern England believe that the oil obtained from the liver of stingrays can easily cure pneumonia, and also protects a person from this serious disease.
Off the coast of Mexico stingrays - stingrays groups of hundreds of individuals gather in small sea depressions, called "paradise".


It is not entirely clear why, with such menacing weapons, tourists are happy to splash and hug these stingrays. I didn't find an explanation for this:


The poisonous stingray needle is located on a long, pointed tail. When the stingray is enraged, it strikes with its tail and sets the needle into a state of readiness for action. This is very strong weapon, which can paralyze a swimmer, inflict severe bodily harm or even kill him. Tail needle length happens different. In some stingrays, it reaches 42 cm. This terrible needle has a groove with a poisonous secret.

Sea cat venom is highly toxic. It enters the wound with tissue filling the grooves of the spikes and immediately affects the cardiovascular system (causes a drop in blood pressure, increased heart rate), poisoning is accompanied by vomiting and intense sweating.

According to statistics, in the United States alone, about 1,500 people suffer from their injections every year. This happens not because stingrays are especially aggressive, they simply chose coastal waters for living in a vast area - from countries Northern Europe and North America to middle latitudes southern hemisphere, and there are almost always a lot of swimmers and fishermen.


The sea cat's weapon is one or more sharp spines located at the end of a whip-like tail. Even a small half-meter stingray living in coastal waters ah of the Atlantic Ocean, the length of the tail spike reaches 20 centimeters, and the 3-4-meter rays have a 30-centimeter spike on the tail as thick as a human foot. The stingray is capable of delivering a blow of such force that it can pierce the bottom of the boat with its tail spike.

So what's the point anyway? Are there non-poisonous stingrays? Tell …

This is how you can play with sea cats in the Caribbean, the Cayman Islands or in French Polynesia.

Occasionally, the European stingray is kept in aquariums with sea ​​water, but keeping this stingray in a room aquarium is difficult - this requires a very large vessel (the optimal volume is about 1 thousand liters), in addition, the sea cat is very demanding on temperature regime and chemical composition water. However, sea cats are kept in large aquariums and oceanariums, for example, in Alushta. In this aquarium, the stingrays receive food, consisting mainly of small marine fish.

For the most part, the inhabitants of the Black Sea are harmless and do not pose a threat to people, which makes it one of the safest in the world. But some of them can seriously harm health, even death. Like a Black Sea stingray (or sea cat), which has a large poisonous thorn and immediately sets it in motion in case of danger. graceful and dangerous fish- a frequent guest of coastal waters and his meetings with a person are regular, so you should get to know him better.

Spreading

Black Sea stingray (legal name Dasyatis pastinaca ) - one of 88 members of the family, loves warm subtropical waters and is widely represented in the Eastern Atlantic, from the coast Baltic Sea before West coast Africa. This is the only species that lives in the Azov and the Black Seas, preferring the latter.

Being a bottom fish, it prefers the sandy and muddy bottom, where it partially burrows for camouflage purposes. It is mainly found at shallow depths, up to 60 meters, but can migrate deeper, depending on the season and water temperature. It swims in shallow water and to rocky shores, sometimes swims into the mouths of rivers.

Description

The Black Sea stingray has a wide and flattened body that does not have bones (only cartilage, the animal belongs to cartilaginous fish), round-diamond-shaped, with a slightly protruding snout. On the upper (dorsal) part are the eyes, behind which are white splashes, through which water enters the gills. They bigger size and when opening / closing, it seems that the fish “blinks”. In the lower part there are gill slits and a mouth with two rows of blunt small teeth in the form of plates, from 30 to 40 pieces in each.

The body of the stingray ends with a tail (in adults, it is almost equal to length body, in young animals - 1.5 times more), in the central part of which grows a jagged peak-thorn, reaching 15-20 centimeters in length. With the help of the duct, poison is injected into the body of the victim during the blow. It is because of this characteristic feature fish and received the prefix-name "stingray". From time to time the spikes break, so there may be 2 or 3 of them.

The thorn prick is very painful, and the symptoms resemble poisoning by snake venom: malaise, cardiac arrhythmia, edema, vomiting. Although not considered fatal, they can lead to lethal outcome if applied to the area of ​​vital organs. Such cases are well known. It takes a few days to recover, but injection wounds take a long time to heal.

Important! As usual, the Black Sea stingray does not attack a person, avoiding crowds or noise, being shy. But if you step on it or “drive it into a corner”, trying to pull it ashore, it hits with its tail immediately, and the force of impact and the sharpness of the spike allows it to pierce clothes and light shoes.

The lower part of the stingray is light, dirty white, the upper part is dark, gray-brown and dirty green-olive colors. The body is smooth and not covered with scales. On average, its dimensions reach 60-70 centimeters in length (the width is not much more length) and 8-10 kilograms by weight, and together with the tail from a meter, but in warmer and south seas there are 20-kilogram specimens of 2-2.5 meters. Females are usually larger than males.

Nutrition

According to the nature of nutrition, the Black Sea stingray is a predator. Its diet consists of benthic invertebrates, shrimp, mollusks and small fish. The latter occupies a small part, increasing as the slope grows. It is worth noting that the stingray spike is not used for hunting. It is intended solely for self-defense.

A stingray hunts from an ambush, which suits at the bottom of the sea. To do this, he descends to the soil, clinging to it as tightly as possible and sprinkling himself with a small amount of sand, disguising himself. If “for lunch” mussels or other mollusks with shells, then teeth are used, which easily crumble the defense.

The favorite time for stingray hunting is twilight or at night when it is most active. Second name - catfish- he got just because of this feature. It helps him to see well at night a special enzyme - guanine, which forms a mirror layer in the eyes, upon contact with which even the darkest and dullest picture improves. Together with the ambush attack, this makes his habits very similar to the behavior of pets.

reproduction

By the nature of reproduction, the sea cat is an ovoviviparous fish, and the fry comes out of the womb already fully adapted to life. But even here the stingray stands out. The fact is that the embryo in the egg feeds not only on the yolk, but also on the histotroph (a nutrient similar in function and purpose to mother's milk).

Small rays (about 8 cm "on the body" and 20 cm in length) appear in June-July, and the total period of pregnancy and gestation is up to 120 days. After birth, the stingrays spread out over the water area, not showing any signs of “kinship” relationships in the future.

The maximum life expectancy of stingrays is 10 years, and in captivity they can live up to 20. They lead an isolated lifestyle, rarely gathering in large groups.

Meaning

The common stingray is not commercial fish, since the meat does not have a special palatability. Fish liver is valued, containing a large number of vitamin D and used to make fish oil. AT old times poisonous spikes were used as the tips of weapons, and arrows were smeared with poison.

The Black Sea stingray is also used for decorative purposes, as aquarium fish, but this requires large containers and special conditions of detention.

Among cartilaginous fish the most dangerous is stingray. So called eagle rays one of the largest and probably the most dangerous families maritime poisonous fish.

The body of stingrays is flattened, like that of a flounder, since these fish also lead a bottom lifestyle. On the sides they have strongly overgrown pectoral fins, which have turned into wide, wing-like formations. Merging with the sides of the head and body, they help the fish swim. The mouth and gill slits open on the underside of the body, and the eyes are located on the top.

Stingrays, like bottom animals, lead a sedentary lifestyle, for the most part lie at the bottom, feed mainly on mollusks, gnawing their shells with their teeth. Most often found radiant stingray, spiny stingray and some others. Their body, together with fins, resembles a rhombus in shape from above. On comparatively great depths tropical seas are inhabited by electric stingrays, the body of which has a rounded shape, as well as saw-fish, resembling a shark in body shape and reaching several meters in length. The habitat of stingrays is extensive. Stingrays can live in the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic, and in warm waters. tropical seas often close to the coast.


Inhabitant of the Indian Pacific seas- blue-spotted stingray (extremely toxic)

There is evidence that on the coasts of North America alone, the number of victims of stingrays, on average, is 750 people per year. Very often people are injured by stingrays in the Western Pacific, for example, off the coast of China, Korea, Japan and in the south of the Primorsky Territory of Russia, where the dangerous stingray red stingray. Catfish also widely distributed in the northeastern waters of the Atlantic Ocean, in the Mediterranean, Black and Seas of Azov. The most dangerous wounds are in the chest and abdomen. Of those injured, about 1% die.

Some types of stingrays, for example, river stingers, prefer shallow waters - no deeper than 1 m. They inhabit wind-protected bays, shallow lagoons, sandy areas between reefs and even estuaries. Everywhere in these spaces they are quite easy to encounter. Stingrays are not always visible, because they burrow into the sand so that only the eyes, poison rod and part of the tail are visible. On the tail of many stingrays there are from one to two serrated poisonous spikes, the length of which depends on the type of stingray and on its size.

For example, stingray Dasyatis hastata reaches a diameter of 2 m with the same length of the tail. At the base of the tail there is a serrated spike almost 40 cm long. This animal is gray on top and blue on the bottom, which allows it to camouflage quite successfully in the water. The stingray lives in coastal grass, where it catches crayfish and molluscs.

“And just imagine,” writes F. Talyzin, “what happens if you jump out of the boat and step on the slope! He will immediately strike with a thorn, forming a lacerated wound, into which he will inject poison from the glands of the skin!

In the waters of Mexico, rarely, but there is an electric ray, as large as a stingray. Its electrical organs are located on the sides of the body between the head and pectoral fins. The current voltage can reach 220 V, with a power of 8 A. Such a discharge can kill not only a person, but also a large animal. Also known from stingrays rhombic stingray that lives in the waters British Columbia before Central Africa. European stingray more commonly referred to as a sea cat. It prefers the waters of the northeast Atlantic Ocean, often found in the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean. This is one of the most common types of stingrays.


Offspring of a sea cat (European stingray, Dasyatis pastinaca) - real death with a smile - although, of course, funny faces are nothing more than a pattern on the underside of the body, characteristic of the species as a whole

Found in California waters and south to Mexico stingray butterfly, and a very beautiful outwardly slope - spotted bracken lives in the tropical part of the Red Sea, in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. quite numerous and California stingray preferring Californian waters. Of freshwater stingrays, one can distinguish South American living in the rivers of Paraguay and Brazil. This stingray is very dangerous, there are many cases of people being affected by the poison of this animal. And finally, among the numerous slopes are also round stingray, which, unlike others, has a rounded body shape and a shorter tail. It lives in the waters of California and south to the Gulf of Panama.


The spotted bracken is a beautiful stingray belonging to the bracken family - one of the most dangerous and numerous

Preferring shallow water, stingrays can also be found near beaches, posing a threat to swimmers. Without noticing the animal buried in the sand, a person can come close to the stingray. Unlike many other fish, the stingray does not swim away from a person approaching it, being well protected by nature. A person who steps on it receives a strong blow in the leg with a spike from a sharp movement of the tail. Rays are more likely than other poisonous fish to be the cause of accidents, since they are very numerous, well hidden in their favorite places and have a strong weapon of defense.

The injured person immediately feels intense pain. The pain from the blow of the tail of freshwater stingrays is especially strong. The victim may have a sharp decrease blood pressure, vomiting appears, indigestion begins. There is an increase in heart rate, paralysis may develop. At severe poisoning the person may die.

The jagged spike of stingrays along its entire length is attached to the skin in the middle part of the tail. Sometimes there are specimens that have three spikes on the tail. Scientists believe that the thorn is preserved by the stingray throughout its life, since there is no evidence that every year there is a change of the old thorn to a new one.

Some Native American tribes use the serrated spines of freshwater Amazon rays as natural arrowheads.

The spike is made of a bone-like substance. Several furrows run along its surface. From its lower surface, a deep furrow also runs along each side of the edge. It contains a soft grayish tissue, which produces a poisonous secret.

Stingray venom is primarily a protein from which ten different fractions or parts can be isolated. At least five of them are poisonous.

Skates are one of ancient fish. Habitat - fresh and salt water. Stingrays are found all over the planet: in tropical regions, subtropical, and also off the coast of Antarctica.

In tropical latitudes, stingrays live in small sizes up to 15 cm, Cook's stingray has an average size, about 5 meters. The sea devil is the most big representative Stingrays, reaches 7m in width, weighing 3.5 tons. Let us analyze the main characteristics of the superorder of rays.

The structure of the slopes

It is common for stingrays to have flattened body, with the presence of massive pectoral fins that are connected to the head section. The caudal fin is thin, with undeveloped lobes; the anal fin is absent. Internal skeleton is made up of cartilage.

The underside is equipped with nostrils and five gill arches. The upper skin can be painted in light colors or dark, depending on the habitat of the animals, which helps them to camouflage and go unnoticed.

Teeth in the form of spikes or flattened, tightly closed, forming a grater. Eyes located on the back, devoid of nictitating septum. The surface of the body is covered with placoid scales, which has a cavity with connective tissue where blood vessels and nerves lie.

Stingrays have a good developed vision, chemical reception, sideline . Thanks to electroreception, they are able to pick up electrical impulses from other fish (contraction of the heart or respiratory muscles). The swim bladder is missing.

Respiratory system It has distinctive features compared to other fish. Since the stingrays are constantly at the bottom, and often completely burrow into the sandy bottom, while breathing, along with water in respiratory organs sand would have gotten in, in order to avoid this respiratory system stingrays has adapted to their benthic way of life.

Air enters through the sprinklers, which are located on the dorsal side. They are equipped with a special valve that prevents foreign bodies from entering. Even if the valve fails, the fish can get rid of the foreign object by supplying a jet of water.

Squads of stingrays

- lead a sedentary lifestyle, often burrow into the sandy bottom. In the region of the pectoral fins, there is an organ that generates current. Force electric charge it can also harm a person, but the rays themselves do not attack people, they use current as a defense.

- the pectoral fins are not as developed as in other representatives, they use the caudal fin to move. The head section is flat, wide, with sharp teeth on the sides, they help to hunt or search for prey in the sand. Sometimes they can swim and live in fresh water.


- have a diamond-shaped, flattened body, with outgrowths in the region of the pelvic cartilages, near the spiracles are the remains of gill folds. They reproduce mainly by live birth. Guitar rays still have dorsal fins. famous representative living off the coast of Europe - sea fox.


– big fish, move easily with the help of pectoral fins that end at eye level, so the head section is clearly visible. The Orlyakov detachment includes a large family of stingrays, which is often distinguished into a separate detachment. These fish in the tail part have a bony protrusion - a thorn necessary for protection and hunting, it also contains poison. People on the beach, not noticing the stingray in the sand, can step on the Stingray and get hit. Poisonous substances stuck in the wound cause vomiting, pressure drop, paresis.


Reproduction of rays

Stingrays are dioecious fish, reproduce in two ways: some are capable of live birth, others lay eggs surrounded by a capsule.

Viviparous females produce small offspring, for example, in electric rays up to 14 cubs are born, and the female sea ​​devil at all capable of enduring only one child (the weight of a newborn stingray is about 10 kg). Their uterus is equipped with special outgrowths (trophotenia) that supply nutrients to the fetus.

The lifespan of individual individuals depends mainly on their size, the smaller the size, the shorter the self. life cycle, small fish live under favorable conditions up to 10 years, larger ones can live up to 20 years.

Lifestyle of stingrays

The benthic way of life of stingrays determined the characteristic appearance of fish. They long time are at the bottom, you will never meet them in surface waters, so they have a flattened wide body. They move with the help of lateral fins, smoothly flapping them like wings, while swimming does not use the tail fin at all.

They can live in low temperatures(about 2°C), and quite high (up to 30°C). Stingrays - predatory fish, the main food products are shellfish, crayfish, salmon, sardines, some species also feed on plankton. In the process of capturing food, they press the prey to the bottom surface and capture the fish with their mouth located in the abdominal region.

Some stingrays that are able to highlight electricity, hiding at the bottom, waiting for their prey. When octopuses or crayfish swim close, stingrays hit them with a discharge, and then collect prey. The key-tailed stingray has a special weapon - a caudal fin with many spikes on the surface, with which it strikes its victims.

The value of rays in human life

  1. They are used as raw materials for the manufacture of dietary supplements;
  2. stingrays - valuable food product, is a delicacy in the restaurant menu, especially in the east. Koreans eat raw meat;
  3. survive in captivity, so they are kept as aquarium fish;
  4. due to their predatory nature, they are a necessary part of the ecosystem to regulate the number of marine organisms, on early stages developments themselves become fodder;
  5. stingray skin is durable with a specific texture, so it is used for sewing bags, wallets.

Rays are called waterfowl. Where does this nickname come from? amazing fish, it becomes clear to anyone who has seen how stingrays move in the water. The tail is not used for swimming. Stingrays swim, making movements that are more similar not to the vigorous strokes of the fins of other fish species, but to the flapping of butterfly wings.

The peculiar structure of the body of stingrays significantly distinguishes them even from their closest relatives - sharks. However, it should be noted here that the ancient stingrays were outwardly very similar to "relatives" - external changes started later, and they mainly affected appearance. Internal structure stingray and sharks remained similar. Both those and others belong to cartilaginous fish, which are distinguished by the absence of a swim bladder and a non-ossified skeleton. Stingrays have no bones - only cartilage.

The transverse mouth opening, nostrils, and five or six pairs of gill slits are located on the underside of the head. The eyes and specific respiratory squirts are on top - it turns out that the stingrays are not destined to see what they eat.

Stingrays - bottom fish, often burrow into the sand, which influenced the formation of the respiratory system. Through the spiracles located at the top of the head (just behind the eyes), the fish inhales, exhaling through the gills. If, during inhalation, particles of dirt and silt get into the spray, the stingray abruptly throws out a jet of polluted water.

Structural features of slopes

    The structure of the stingray has a number of features that significantly distinguish representatives of the superorder Batoidea from other fish species.

    Flat body diamond-shaped or rounded

    Front fins fused to the head

    Swim bladder missing

    Gills are located on the underside of the body

    cartilaginous skeleton

    Electroreceptors that allow you to pick up impulses from other fish (for example, heartbeat)