(Red Sea)

(Tanzania)

Bluespotted stingray, (Dasyatis kuhlii) also known as Kuhl’s Stingray is a stingray. It is light green with blue spots. Their disk width hovers around 67 cm.

Dasyatidae is a family of rays, cartilaginous marine fishes, related to skates and sharks. Most dasyatids are relatively widespread and unlikely to be threatened, there are several species where the conservation status is more problematic, leading to them being listed as vulnerable or endangered by IUCN.

Dasyatids are propelled by motion of their large pectoral fins (commonly mistaken as “wings”). Their stinger is a razor-sharp, barbed, or serrated cartilaginous spine which grows from the ray’s whip-like tail (like a fingernail), and can grow as long as 37 cm (about 14.6 inches). On the underside of the spine are two grooves containing venom-secreting glandular tissue. The venom contains the enzymes 5-nucleotidase and phosphodiesterase which breakdown and kill cells; and the neurotransmitter serotonin which provokes smooth-muscle contractions. This gives them their common name of stingrays (a compound of “sting” and “ray”), but the name can also be used to refer to any poisonous ray. Divers often refer to them as “Sea Devils”. (source: wikipedia)

Picture 1: Red Sea, Egypt, picture 2: Zanzibar, Tanzania by Sami Salmenkivi