Marble rays
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Marble rays ( Raja undulata ) |
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| Raja undulata | ||||||||||||
| Lacépède , 1802 |
The marble ray ( Raja undulata ) is a species of ray found in the North Atlantic and the western Mediterranean that is considered endangered due to the high fishing pressure.
features
The marble ray reaches a body length of a maximum of one meter. It has a flattened body typical of rays. The snout is short and pointed, the pectoral fins are rounded and concave at the front while the rear edge is convex. The back side is gray to brown with dark lines lined with small white dots, the underside is colored white.
The two approximately equally long dorsal fins are located at the end of the caudal peduncle. There are also bumps on the top, which are arranged in a row on the back line.
distribution
The marble ray lives on the seabed in the North Atlantic from the south coast of the British Isles to the Biscay , Algarve , Mauritania and Senegal as well as in the Mediterranean Sea and around the Canary Islands .
Way of life
Like the majority of rays, the marble ray is a bottom-living fish, although it can be found in the shelf area up to a depth of 200 meters on sandy and silty bottoms. It feeds primarily on invertebrates such as crustaceans , mollusks and echinoderms .
Between March and September the females lay large egg capsules about nine centimeters long and five centimeters wide with long horns at the corners.
Danger
In the IUCN Red List , the marble ray is classified as “endangered” due to the strong fishing pressure, in which the ray is mainly bycatch . The stocks were reduced by around 60 to 80% between 1981 and 2003.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e Andreas Vilcinskas : Fish. Central European freshwater species and marine fish from the North and Baltic Seas. BLV, Munich 2000; P. 50, ISBN 3-405-15848-6 .
- ↑ Marble Rays on Fishbase.org (English)
- ^ Raja undulata in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009.2. Posted by: Coelho, R., Bertozzi, M., Ungaro. N. & Ellis, J., 2003. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
literature
- Andreas Vilcinskas : Fish. Central European freshwater species and marine fish from the North and Baltic Seas. BLV, Munich 2000; P. 50, ISBN 3-405-15848-6 .
Web links
- Marble rays on Fishbase.org (English)