Blue Spotted Ribbon Tail Stingray

General information

The Blue Spotted Ribbon Tail Stingray is a smaller ray (12 to 14 inches across) has an oval pectoral disc that is usually yellow to brown to olive-green and scattered with blue spots on top, and white underneath. It looks a lot like the blue spotted stingray, but this ray is much rounder and has a noticeably thicker tail. This bottom dweller has a very sensitive abdomen that needs a sandy substrate. The sand is also used as a form of camouflage. A coarse substrate will cause abrasions that may lead to infection.

Difficult to feed at first, this species should be fed squid or live feeder shrimp. Chunks of marine fish, scallops, and squid may be introduced once acclimated. They prefer hunting crustaceans and small fish in reefs and will follow the high tide into shallower, sandy areas.

Most rays can be trained to accept foods such as earthworms, shrimp, squid, clams or pieces of fish from a feeding stick or your hand. Caution when hand-feeding rays; they may accidentally bite your fingers. Avoid feeding large open-water fish such as tuna and swordfish to your stingray, these types of fish contain higher levels of mercury in their tissues which can poison a stingray.

Should be fed small meals daily, do not overfeed stingrays look at their disk and tail if you start to see the skeletal structure then you should be feeding more.

To stay healthy and grow properly, stingrays need the right amounts of fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals in their diet. For this reason, it is essential to feed a large variety of foods on a regular basis.

Amino acid and vitamin supplements can be added directly to the food before feeding if necessary. Be sure to remove uneaten food from the tank immediately to help prevent stress from poor water quality.

At sexual maturity, male rays have external sexual organs called claspers which are visible near the base of the tail.