Stingray - life of stingray fish in the wild

Stingrays are neither threatened nor endangered species. They derive their name from their slender, whip-like tails equipped with venomous spines. Stingrays are neither threatened nor endangered species. They've been hunted for centuries for their meat and also today stingrays are marketed for food in various countries around the world, principally in Europe and Asia.

Behavior of stingrays

They live in the bottom parts of shallow tropical waters. Looking carefully, you are likely to find them lying on a seabed, buried or partially covered with sand. They can move very rapidly when threatened or in pursuit of a passing fish. They also eat mollusks and crustaceans, crushing then with their flat, strong teeth.

Most of stingrays are not especially afraid of humans. When approached, they swim gently to another place naturally avoiding too close contact. In many places around the world they became tourist attraction, where people can swim together or even feed them.

stingray feedingGeneral characteristics of stingrays

Stingrays can be found in the major oceans; Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Most stingrays are marine, living in salt water but they can be found in freshwater and where salt and fresh water mix (brackish water). The shape as can be seen in the pictures, the side of the head has a continuous shape with the outer side margin of the pectoral fin, the fins that look like wings.

They breath by drawing water through a small hole behind the eye and expel the water through gill slits on the underside of the disc. The dorsal fin or backward fin, does not exist or sometimes are hard to distinguish. The disc is about 1.2 times as broad as the length.

The stingray does not have a tail fin (cuadal fin). Instead it has a tail and it looks like a whip with a long venomous spine on the tail. The spine is replaced every four months. Most species have at least 1 long venomous spine on the tail, and some stingrays that are seen to have two.

stingray moving away from diverInjuries to humans from stingrays occur when an unsuspecting person steps on a ray, causing the creature to reflexively strike out with its tail. The stinger apparatus then injects a toxin, causing immediate shooting pain. Although there is no known antidote for their toxin, it's rarely fatal for humans.

The largest of these is the specie is Trygonidae with a total length of about 4 meters. With the above calculations, the total width can be approximately 4.8 meters.

Stingray leather

There are very few stingray species that provide suitable leather hides. These are called "scaly species". The skin of these stingrays consists of thousands of tiny rock-hard pearls or scales. This stingray leather is exceptionally strong and by many is called the most durable leather in the world. It's definitely fire, water, tear and "cut" resistant.

sample of stingray leatherThe reason of these features lies in the structure of the leather. In regular leather, the fibres of the leather run parallel to each other, whereas in stingray leather the fibres run in all directions. In addition, all the tiny pearls with their roots are grown into the bottom layer of the leather, to the effect that you can neither tear the leather apart, nor cut it easily with the knife.

There are many products that can be made from stingray leather; handbags, purses and wallets for example. There are also coin purses and key wallets, too. One can choose from a variety of colors and sizes, all genuine exotic stingray leather.

Sphere: Related Content

No comments: