Eagle Ray

• alimentaciónIt feeds mainly on buried molluscs and crustaceans, which it locates by electroreception and crushes on specialised tooth plates.
• It has seven rows of plate-like teeth in each jaw, adapted to crushing bottom-living molluscs and crustaceans.
• It is matrotrophically viviparous: the mother actively nourishes the embryos during gestation.
• In Sicily, the discovery of an aggregation site in the Egadi marine protected area has boosted dive tourism.
• It accumulates more arsenic in its tissues than the pelagic rays do.
• Its taxonomic position is unclear: the Mediterranean populations may be a different species from those of the south-eastern Atlantic.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - cartilaginous skeleton (chondrichthyan fish)

Habitat and environment

Shallow coastal waters and continental shelf of the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the western Indian Ocean, from the surface to about 300 m; it often swims in groups

Sexual maturity

Males at around 32-40 cm disc width and females at around 43-60 cm

Gestation / incubation

From 6 to 8 months

Litter / clutch size

From 3 to 7 pups per litter, about 19 cm in disc width at birth

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myliobatis_aquila; Lista Roja UICN 2021, evaluacion de Myliobatis aquila