Oddball
Fishaholic
Hi there guys, well the long and short of this is to say ive done a little research into some rays and i would like a little help from here. Below you will find the actual material i've found, but i would like some help obtaining pictures, other possible species etc. This was started a long time ago, anbd wasnt perfect then, i wish to expand on this and make a complete guide for stingrays for the forum and myself. Also if this is of any use to yourselves in any way please feel free to use the matter, thanks in advance!
Rays belong to the order Rajiformes, of these, the families Dasyatidae, Potamotroygonidae and Pristidae include fresh water species.
Of theses families, only the Potamotroygonidae live their entire lives in fresh water, the other rays have been known to migrate into brackish and even marine environments.
Potamotroygonidae are known as River Stingrays, and fourteen members of the genus Potamotrygon and one member of Disceus, (from Dasyatidae,) are purely fresh water.
Known species of ray, (to me,) found in the hobby are:
Disceus Aierelsa
Potamotrygon Hystrix
Potamotrygon Motro (Motro)
Potamotrygon Reticulatus (Reticulated)
Potamotrygon Leopoldii (Leopoldi)
Potamotrygon Henlei
Potamotrygon Scobina
Potamotrygon Menchacai
Pristes Pristes (Sawfish)
Rays are unique in body, being compressed horizontally, they have a mouth, nostrils, and six spiracles as well as claspers in male rays on the underside of their body. On the upper half of the ray its eyes, rostrum, defensive spines and a pair of spiracles can be found. This is different in the saw fish, instead of the spines on the tail, the fish has an extended rostrum with many saw like protrusions.
All species of rays are live bearers, giving birth to live pups, litters can reach up to twelve youngsters, who, for the first week or so live off of a yolk sack similar to the arowanas.
Rays, (excepting the sawfish,) love to burrow in the substrate, leaving their eyes to be exposed above the sand/gravel. They stalk sleeping prey at night, however, tame rays can be persuaded to feed during the day and from their owners hand. Naturally rays hunt at night, stalking sleeping prey and engulfing them in their disc like fins, eventually guiding the victim into their mouth to be swallowed whole. If the victim does not fit in the rays mouth, it simply releases the fish unharmed unlike some other species of fish (like the pike) who have been known to choke to death on “dinner”.
Sawfish are different, they attack live prey with their snout, slashing at shoals of fish until it kills several before settling down to dinner, all those who wish to keep these fish should be wary.
All rays and sawfish shed their spines at intervals, as one falls out every two to three months, a new spine has grown to replace it, similar to sharks teeth.
Rays grow fast and can outgrow tanks very rapidly. When buying for a ray, remember it is the substrate area that counts, yet they do seem to enjoy attaching to the side of tanks so it should be reasonably deep. For a P.Motro a good tank size would be 72”x24”x25” giving it the room to scoot about as it pleases. Remember they require space so tank decoration should be minimal, or better yet a central focal point if you are lucky enough to be able to views your tank from all angles. Rays are very, very sensitive and care should be taken with its water. Nitrate levels must be 20ppm or lower, pH between 6.5 and 7.2 and the temperature range is 24 to 26 degrees Celsius.
When housing your ray, you may wish to include tank mates. As such, rays are good community fish, never attacking each other and tank mates, (provided they are not small enough to fit in its mouth and are non violent,) suggested tank mates are birchirs, arowanas, synodontids, butterfly fish, discus, flag tailed prochilodius, ghost knife fish and the African knife fish. Obviously not all of these fish can mix with each other, and you may have others you would wish to keep, so long as they are not small, nosey or aggressive they should work.
Rays belong to the order Rajiformes, of these, the families Dasyatidae, Potamotroygonidae and Pristidae include fresh water species.
Of theses families, only the Potamotroygonidae live their entire lives in fresh water, the other rays have been known to migrate into brackish and even marine environments.
Potamotroygonidae are known as River Stingrays, and fourteen members of the genus Potamotrygon and one member of Disceus, (from Dasyatidae,) are purely fresh water.
Known species of ray, (to me,) found in the hobby are:
Disceus Aierelsa
Potamotrygon Hystrix
Potamotrygon Motro (Motro)
Potamotrygon Reticulatus (Reticulated)
Potamotrygon Leopoldii (Leopoldi)
Potamotrygon Henlei
Potamotrygon Scobina
Potamotrygon Menchacai
Pristes Pristes (Sawfish)
Rays are unique in body, being compressed horizontally, they have a mouth, nostrils, and six spiracles as well as claspers in male rays on the underside of their body. On the upper half of the ray its eyes, rostrum, defensive spines and a pair of spiracles can be found. This is different in the saw fish, instead of the spines on the tail, the fish has an extended rostrum with many saw like protrusions.
All species of rays are live bearers, giving birth to live pups, litters can reach up to twelve youngsters, who, for the first week or so live off of a yolk sack similar to the arowanas.
Rays, (excepting the sawfish,) love to burrow in the substrate, leaving their eyes to be exposed above the sand/gravel. They stalk sleeping prey at night, however, tame rays can be persuaded to feed during the day and from their owners hand. Naturally rays hunt at night, stalking sleeping prey and engulfing them in their disc like fins, eventually guiding the victim into their mouth to be swallowed whole. If the victim does not fit in the rays mouth, it simply releases the fish unharmed unlike some other species of fish (like the pike) who have been known to choke to death on “dinner”.
Sawfish are different, they attack live prey with their snout, slashing at shoals of fish until it kills several before settling down to dinner, all those who wish to keep these fish should be wary.
All rays and sawfish shed their spines at intervals, as one falls out every two to three months, a new spine has grown to replace it, similar to sharks teeth.
Rays grow fast and can outgrow tanks very rapidly. When buying for a ray, remember it is the substrate area that counts, yet they do seem to enjoy attaching to the side of tanks so it should be reasonably deep. For a P.Motro a good tank size would be 72”x24”x25” giving it the room to scoot about as it pleases. Remember they require space so tank decoration should be minimal, or better yet a central focal point if you are lucky enough to be able to views your tank from all angles. Rays are very, very sensitive and care should be taken with its water. Nitrate levels must be 20ppm or lower, pH between 6.5 and 7.2 and the temperature range is 24 to 26 degrees Celsius.
When housing your ray, you may wish to include tank mates. As such, rays are good community fish, never attacking each other and tank mates, (provided they are not small enough to fit in its mouth and are non violent,) suggested tank mates are birchirs, arowanas, synodontids, butterfly fish, discus, flag tailed prochilodius, ghost knife fish and the African knife fish. Obviously not all of these fish can mix with each other, and you may have others you would wish to keep, so long as they are not small, nosey or aggressive they should work.
/www.freshwaterstingray.nl/Frames%20...ls/English.html
