topic: Rays

topic: Rays

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Farewell, Java stingaree: Scientist declare the first marine fish extinction
- In December 2023, scientists declared the Java stingaree (Urolophus javanicus), a species of stingray, extinct.
- It’s the first marine fish confirmed to have gone extinct due to human actions.
- Scientists know very little about the species, which they haven’t spotted since a naturalist purchased the specimen from which he described the species at a fish market in Jakarta in 1862.

Congo’s waters are hotspot for endangered sharks & rays, reveals data from artisanal fishers
- A new shark census off the coast of the Republic of the Congo relied on hard-earned trust between researchers and artisanal fishermen.
- The team found endangered sharks and rays on potential nursery grounds, including juveniles and two species thought to be gone from the region.
- The authors recommend conservation strategies to protect endangered species without harming the livelihoods of Congolese fishermen.

Tangled in marine debris, skate egg cases dry up and die on Peruvian beaches
- A new study has found that shorttail fanskate populations may be being affected by plastic pollution.
- The skates mistake abandoned fishing nets and other debris for seaweed and attach their eggs to them, unaware that the debris could wash up on the shore where the eggs will dry out.
- Shorttail fanskates (Sympterygia brevicaudata) are considered near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

‘Manta grid’ provides a ray of hope against industrial bycatch threat
- Most species of manta and devil rays (genus Mobula) are endangered, yet industrial purse seine fishing vessels unintentionally catch about 13,000 each year while hunting tuna, according to one scientific estimate.
- New regulations, handling techniques and equipment aim to reduce this number.
- Fishers are working with scientists to return the rays, which are slippery and can weigh as much as a small car, back into the sea when they are brought on deck in fishing nets.
- At the same time, experts warn that far more mobulids die in gillnets set by small-scale and semi-industrial local fishers in countries throughout the tropics.

Study: Paying fishers to ease off sharks and rays is cost-effective conservation
- Paying fishers in Indonesia to not catch sharks and rays could be a cost-effective way of conserving these species, a new study suggests.
- Interviews with fishers at two sites shows that payments of $71,408-$235,927 per year could protect up to 18,500 hammerheads and 2,140 wedgefish at those sites.
- Researchers say this money could come from dive tourism levies, and they are already carrying out a pilot project that has seen fishers release more than 150 hammerheads and wedgefish in eight months.
- An independent expert cautions that there need to be safeguards to prevent a perverse incentive where fishers are deliberately catching these species just so they can release them and claim payment.

Stingrays can ‘talk’ when they get riled up, new study suggests
- A new paper provides the first evidence that wild stingray species produce short, loud clicking sounds.
- While scientists still need to learn how and why stingrays make these noises, they speculate that the clicking sounds are a distress or defense signal.
- The paper documents three instances of this behavior in mangrove whiprays and cowtail stingrays, two species threatened with extinction.

Where do the guitarfish go? Scientists and fishers team up to find out
- In late March and early April of this year, a team of researchers and local fishers caught, sampled and released more than 50 sharks and rays in the Bijagós Archipelago of Guinea-Bissau, including several threatened species.
- A first for conservation, researchers tagged members of a critically endangered ray species, the blackchin guitarfish (Glaucostegus cemiculus), with satellite transmitters.
- Team leader Guido Leurs says the research will provide crucial information for policymakers to better protect sharks and rays in Guinea-Bissau.
- Fisheries management within the archipelago, which spans 12,950 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) and 88 islands, is a challenge for the West African nation.

In Sri Lankan waters, endangered but unprotected rays encounter a killing field
- Sri Lanka’s artisanal fishers are catching more manta and devil rays every year, including endangered species, than all global large industrial purse seine fisheries combined, a study shows.
- Manta and devil rays, collectively known as mobulid rays, have slow reproductive rates, so even low to moderate levels of bycatch can have major impacts on their populations.
- Driving their overexploitation is increased demand for their gill plates, prized in traditional Chinese medicine; before 2010, mobulid rays caught as bycatch were often released at sea due to lack of demand, but with the growth of the gill plate trade, they are increasingly brought to shore.
- ll the six species of mobulid rays found in Sri Lanka are endangered under the IUCN Red List, but none of them receive legal protection, even though Sri Lanka is a signatory to international treaties that require measures to protect these species.

Ray care center: Indonesia’s Raja Ampat a key nursery for young reef mantas
- Scientists have published new evidence confirming that Wayag Lagoon in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago is a globally rare nursery for juvenile reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi).
- Visual observations from 2013 to 2021 show that juvenile reef manta rays are repeatedly encountered in the small, shallow and sheltered lagoon, without the presence of adult individuals; the young rays spend months at a time inside the lagoon, never venturing out.
- The findings have prompted marine authorities in Indonesia to start revising the management of the lagoon to safeguard the manta nursery zone, with regulations being drawn up to limit disturbances to the young rays.
- Both oceanic and reef manta rays are protected species under Indonesian law, which prohibits their catch and the trade of any of their body parts.

For reef mantas, Indonesia’s Komodo National Park is a ray of hope
- A new study has found that Komodo National Park in Indonesia has an aggregation of 1,085 reef manta rays, currently classified as a vulnerable species.
- Experts say that locations such as Komodo will play an important role in safeguarding the species from extinction.
- Manta rays are under pressure from fishing activity, including targeted fishing and bycatch.
- However, experts say the species is also impacted by tourism and the changing dynamics of the ocean.

Overfishing threatens to wipe out bowmouth guitarfish in Indonesia, study says
- A study has found that uncontrolled fishing of wedgefish, a family of rays, in Indonesia threatens to push the bowmouth guitarfish to extinction.
- The bowmouth guitarfish and the white-spotted guitarfish are the most commonly caught wedgefish species in Indonesia, with their fins supplying the shark fin trade.
- Researchers have called on the government to impose full protection of juvenile wedgefish and a reduction in catches of bowmouth guitarfish specifically to ensure their survival.
- Both the bowmouth and white-spotted guitarfish are critically endangered species, but neither is included in Indonesia’s protected species list.

New research hopes to shine a light on wedgefish, the ‘pangolin of the ocean’
- Wedgefish, a type of ray, are some of the least-known and most endangered fish in the ocean.
- A new research project in Mozambique is employing two types of tags, acoustic and satellite, to better understand two of these critically endangered species.
- Researchers aim to uncover the species’ range and habitat requirements to preserve them from extinction.
- Wedgefish are heavily targeted by the shark-fin trade, and their populations have declined precipitously throughout much of their range.

For manta rays, parasitic hitchhikers can be a pain in the rear, study finds
- A new study has found that 13 species closely associate with reef manta rays and oceanic manta rays in the Maldives.
- The associations between the manta rays and these other species are not always mutually beneficial, with the “hitchhiking” species usually gaining more benefits than they give to the manta rays.
- The study is based on more than 76,5000 sightings of the two manta ray species over a 30-year period.

In Gabon, a new partnership protects sharks and rays
- The diversity of habitat in Gabon’s waters creates a perfect home for a wide range of shark and ray species: from whale sharks to giant manta rays, scalloped hammerheads, and guitarfish.
- A partnership between the government and conservation NGO Wildlife Conservation Society highlights a new global initiative to save the world’s sharks and rays, launched this World Ocean Day.
- The first new law fully regulates shark and ray catches and special authorization will now be needed to target sharks and rays, and a second adds a wide range of sharks and rays to Gabon’s list of fully protected marine species.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Indonesian researchers study how to help rays released as bycatch survive
- Researchers in Indonesia are studying the survival rate of manta rays and devil rays released after being caught unintentionally by fishers.
- The study, which has so far tagged five of the animals with satellite trackers, aims to come up with best practices to boost the survival of these threatened rays.
- Populations of mantas and devils rays, from the genus Mobula, have been hit by the global trade of their parts, particularly their gills, for traditional medicine and food.

Landed by the thousands: Overfished Congo waters put endangered sharks at risk
- More than 100 commercial trawlers and about 700 smaller boats of the Republic of Congo’s artisanal fleet are putting intense pressure on 42 shark and ray species, according to a new survey by TRAFFIC, an NGO that tracks the global wildlife trade. All are on the IUCN red list.
- The 150-mile Congo coast makes up a tiny part of Africa’s shoreline, but overfishing is taking a heavy toll. One example: Ten thousand metric tons of hammerheads were reported caught in Congo from 2007 through 2017 — the equivalent weight of 10,000 small cars.
- Republic of Congo is a signatory of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but not one CITES-listed shark species is on the country’s endangered species list. A new law aimed at meeting international commitments has been in the works since 2018, but has not been ratified by the Parliament.
- A new international market incentivized shark fishing around 2000, with the arrival of Chinese companies in Congo. The fins are exported illegally to Asia for shark fin soup, but authorities say they have no idea how the shark fins are being smuggled out of the country. Without knowledge of export routes, little can be done to prevent the illegal trade.

Small steps aim to make a large ocean safer for rays
- New rules that apply to a vast swath of the Pacific Ocean aim to improve manta and devil rays’ chances of surviving encounters with tuna fishing boats.
- The measure prohibits fishers from targeting the rays or keeping the ones they catch accidentally. It also mandates that fishers release rays that survive being caught in a manner “that will result in the least possible harm.”
- Growth in demand for manta and devil ray gill plates and anecdotal reports of decreasing populations have raised concerns about the effects of overfishing, both intentional and accidental.

In Indonesian waters, filter feeders can ingest dozens to hundreds of microplastic particles every hour
- Researchers looked at plastic pollution in three coastal feeding grounds in Indonesia that are frequented by manta rays (Mobula alfredi) and whale sharks (Rhincodon typus): Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area, Komodo National Park, and Pantai Bentar, East Java.
- After estimating the amount of microplastic particles that are present in the waters of their three study areas, the researchers were then able to determine how much of that plastic might find its way into the digestive tracts of reef manta rays and whale sharks.
- They found that reef manta rays may eat up to 63 pieces of plastic per hour when feeding in Nusa Penida and Komodo National Park, while whale sharks could be consuming up to 137 pieces per hour during seasonal aggregations in Java.

Manta rays are social creatures who are choosy about their friends
- Researchers have found evidence of structured social relationships among wild, free-ranging reef manta rays. The rays appear to actively choose other individuals to socialize with, according to a study published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology last week.
- The researchers say that certain social groups were regularly seen together at specific cleaning stations, where the rays are cleaned by cleaner wrasse and other small fish, suggesting that they may be using those sites as meet-up points. Some rays were observed returning frequently to certain cleaning stations despite the close proximity of several other sites.
- Reef manta rays are listed as Vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List, which reports that the ray’s numbers are believed to have declined by as much as 30 percent globally over the last 75 years. The researchers hope that by revealing the social lives of manta rays, they can help build public support for protection measures around the world.

Information is key – but lacking for sharks and rays in the Western Indian Ocean (commentary)
- Due to overexploitation, at least 27 percent of the 222 different shark and ray species found in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) are considered threatened, meaning that they are classified as either Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. These species face a high risk of extinction and need urgent conservation intervention.
- Although the majority of sharks and rays pose no threat to humans, we pose a major threat to them, primarily through fisheries. Shark fisheries have existed for many decades, although historically they were primarily caught as unwanted bycatch. However, they are now increasingly being targeted due to the high demand for meat for local consumption and export, and for their fins for the global shark (and ray) fin trade.
- Ensuring that sharks and rays are sustainably managed is important not only because they provide an important source of food and income for many coastal communities, but also because they serve an important function in maintaining balanced and healthy ecosystems through their roles as apex and meso predators, and as food for other, larger marine species. However, information needed to sustainably manage shark and ray populations is sorely lacking in the WIO.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Thousands of sharks and rays are likely entangled in plastic polluting Earth’s oceans
- Scientists at the UK’s University of Exeter examined existing scientific literature and took to Twitter to find documented instances of shark and ray entanglements.
- They ended up finding reports of more than 1,000 entangled animals — and they say the actual number of sharks and rays snarled in plastic is likely to be far higher, as few studies have focused specifically on the issue.
- “Entanglement in marine debris is symptomatic of a degraded marine environment and is a clear animal welfare issue,” the authors write in the study. But they add that entanglement is “likely a far lesser threat” to shark and ray populations than the threat posed by commercial fishing.

Recreational divers help researchers track movements of rare stingray
- The smalleye stingray, thought to be widely distributed across the Indo-West Pacific, is rarely seen and is listed as “data deficient” on the IUCN Red List.
- By compiling photographs and videos of the stingrays taken opportunistically by both research teams and recreational divers over the last 15 years off the coast of Mozambique, the only place the giant rays are regularly spotted, researchers have created a photographic database of the animals.
- This database is now helping researchers gain some of the first insights into this elusive species. For example, researchers found that a female stingray had made a 400-kilometer (250-mile) round trip to birth her pups.

Caribbean nations boost protection for extremely rare largetooth sawfish
- On June 5, Caribbean countries agreed to boost protection for the largetooth sawfish by adding it to Annex II of the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol under the Cartagena Convention.
- Plants and animals added to Annexes I and II of the SPAW Protocol are afforded the highest levels of protection, with countries falling within the Caribbean region committing to ban the collection, possession or killing of the species, prohibit their commercial trade, and take steps to reduce disturbances to the species.
- Experts have welcomed the measure, but say that SPAW countries must “follow through with their obligations to implement protections.”
- Legal protection aside, education and local community involvement is key to giving species like sawfish “a fighting chance,” experts say.

Rare nursery for baby manta rays discovered in Gulf of Mexico
- Adult giant manta rays can be seen in subtropical and tropical waters around the world, but baby and juvenile mantas are rarely encountered.
- So when marine biologist Joshua Stewart saw several baby and juvenile mantas at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary off Texas and Louisiana, he was surprised.
- By looking through 25 years of dive data from the sanctuary, including photographs of manta rays, Stewart and his team confirmed that the sanctuary was a nursery ground for the mantas.

Do catch and release-induced abortions harm shark and ray populations?
- Female sharks and rays are more susceptible to aborting their young after being captured than previously realized, according to a recent review of scientific literature.
- The review found that 88 species that bear live young were susceptible. Among a subset of those species for which adequate data was available, researchers estimated that an average of 24 percent of pregnant females abort their offspring when captured.
- The authors argue that the phenomenon may be responsible for lost generations of threatened species.
- However, outside researchers consulted for this story say that the killing of adult sharks poses a much bigger threat to species survival.

Belize imposes offshore oil moratorium to protect reefs
- Belize stopped the exploration for oil in its waters as of Dec. 29, 2017.
- Environmentalists and local businesses opposed a 2016 plan to begin wider oil exploration around Belize, halting those plans within weeks.
- Tourism directly contributed about 14 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2016, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, and 50 percent of Belize’s 360,000 people depend on tourism or fishing for their livelihoods.
- Conversely, WWF estimated that an oil spill would cost $280 million in cleanup costs.

Shrinking Indonesian shark fisheries spur a national action plan
- Indonesia has the world’s highest diversity of sharks, with 118 species.
- It also has the world’s largest shark fishery. With recent landings topping 50,000 tons, the fishery focuses on species classified as “vulnerable” or “endangered.”
- Under international pressure, the country is developing a national plan of action to conserve its sharks and rays.

Javanese fishermen switch from lobsters to stingrays as an unintended consequence of new catch limits

“This is for the future of our oceans,” Indonesian Fishery Minister Susi Pudjiastuti exclaimed when she announced minimum size limits for lobster and crab catches in January this year. It was a commendable conservation initiative intended to boost crustacean stocks, particularly spiny lobsters (Panulirus penicillatus), an important export product. But the new regulation may inadvertently […]
Conservationists catch-and-release record-smashing freshwater fish

Releasing the giant mamma freshwater stingray. Photo courtesy of Ocean Mysteries and Jeff Corwin. Conservationists and scientists have managed to catch-and-release what could be the world’s biggest freshwater fish ever for an upcoming episode of Ocean Mysteries. Naturalist and host of the show, Jeff Corwin—along with wildlife veterinarian, Nantarika Chansue, and the tourist fishing group, […]
In unprecedented move, Indonesia punishes illegal manta ray trader

Reef manta rays (Manta alfredi) swim off Nusa Penida in Indonesia. Photo Credit: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace For the first time, Indonesia has sentenced an illegal manta ray trafficker to jail time and a fine, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The verdict is the first under Indonesia’s new law against people who illegally trade in manta […]
Manta ray tourism worth 28 times more than killing them for Traditional Chinese Medicine

A new study in the open access journal PLoS ONE estimates that manta rays are worth $140 million a year in tourism across 23 countries, significantly outweighing the worth of manta ray gill plates, which have become the newest craze in Traditional Chinese Medicine. “As an example in Indonesia, revenue to fishermen from manta gill […]
Sharks and rays win protections at CITES

The scalloped hammerhead shark is one of five sharks and two manta rays that won protection today at CITES, so long as it isn’t overturned. Photo by: Stacy Jupiter/WCS. Today, for the first time, sharks and rays have won the vote for better protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), the […]

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