Common eagle ray

Biology

This ray's tail has one or more poisonous thorns with serrated edges, capable of inflicting very painful wounds. As in all cartilaginous fish, fertilization is internal and, in this species, copulation lasts from 30 to 90 seconds, the female capable of repeating the act several times with different partners. The gestation period lasts six to eight months and the females give birth to (three to seven) fully formed young, that develop in eggs inside the mother's uterus (ovoviviparity). To feed themselves, they stir the sandy bottom up with their pectoral fins searching for molluscs, worms, crustaceans and cephalopods.

Conservation

This species is a bycatch of several commercial fisheries. Habitat degradation in inshore areas from coastal development and pollution may also affect this species in the inshore habitat of some populations.

Curiosities

Their teeth form flat plates in both jaws, with which they crush crabs and molluscs.