Fun Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray Facts For Kids

The blue-spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma), also known as the lagoon ray, is a species of the endless ocean with distinctive blue spots and a remarkable venomous tail. They use the tail to attack smaller fishes and crabs.

Few groups have been seen in the tropical marine aquarium habitat near Ningaloo Reef situated in Western Australia extending up to the coral reefs of Queensland. These fishes can be seen completely buried while luring prey or while migrating.

During the breeding period, in order to attract a female to mate, the male is observed to follow the female with its nose near the female's cloaca.

A cloaca is a rear digestive tract cavity in the female body responsible for genital discharge. If the female releases a certain chemical, it indicates that the female is interested in mating, or else they tend to swim away.

The two spines present are large and medium-sized respectively. The body is yellow-greenish to yellow-brownish with yellow eyes and is capable to change the pupil's size and look behind as well.

If you like this, you might want to know about eagle ray and manta ray.

Blue-Spotted Ribbontail Ray Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a blue-spotted ribbontail ray?

Ribbontail rays are a kind of fish. Belonging to the subclass Elasmobranchii, these fishes belong to the order Myliobatiformes as well.

What class of animal does a blue-spotted ribbontail ray belong to?

The blue-spotted ribbontail ray belongs to the Chondrichthyes class of animals. These rays are classified as a member of the Dasyatidae family along with the genus Taeniura.

How many blue-spotted ribbontail rays are there in the world?

Even though the blue-spotted ribbontail ray is listed in the Least Concern category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the exact numbers of these individuals currently residing on the planet are not known.

Where does a blue-spotted ribbontail ray live?

Ribbontail rays (Taeniura lymma) are fishes that live in coral reef and shallow sandy areas. These fishes are endemic and found along the coasts of the Indian and the West Pacific Ocean.

The northern coast of South Africa has large numbers of this species as well near the coral reef. Although they mostly dominate the Western Indo-Pacific region, these fishes are also spotted near southern Africa stretching to the Red Sea along with the Solomon Islands.

What is a blue-spotted ribbontail ray's habitat?

Being a reef ray, blue-spotted rays are usually found in a habitat around ocean shores and shallow sandy areas with a depth of around 6.6-98.4 ft (2-30 m). These fishes, being shallow sandfish, are mostly found near coral reefs or near the sand digging a shallow bed. They do not hide entirely under the sand generally.

Who does blue-spotted ribbontail ray live with?

The blue-spotted ribbontail is mostly an isolated species and is spotted alone. These fishes are seen to swim away when encountering a fight. During migration, these fishes stay together in a group and in pairs during the gestation period. Apart from that, these fishes lay low in isolation near shallow water sand beds.

How long does a blue-spotted ribbontail ray live?

The exact life span of ribbontail rays is not known as of now.

How do they reproduce?

The blue-spotted ribbontail ray is a fish undergoing the reproductory process of placental viviparity making this species ovoviviparous in nature. In this case, internal fertilization takes place where the embryo within the female body is nurtured by the yolk rather than having a placental link.

The eggs remain within the female body until it is time to hatch. During the early spring, these fishes are seen near the Tanzanian coast.

The mating includes activities related to the disc. Blue-spotted ray adults nibble or bite the disc where the females are fertilized internally by the males using the claspers.

The breeding period occurs generally during the time between spring and summer. The gestation continues for 4-12 months, producing four to seven young per litter near the coral reefs.

The young have a length of around 4.72-5.51 in (12-14 cm) and are quick to learn to hide to attack their prey. They resemble their parents in terms of looks and have prominent blue spots throughout the body and the tail starts developing early with the venomous spines within.

What is their conservation status?

Earlier, this species was considered a Near Threatened species due to its surprising decreasing trend in the population.

Currently, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), this species is listed under the Least Concern category, and there has been a noticeable increasing trend in their population due to the different conservation programs that have been adopted by several wildlife welfare agencies.

Blue-Spotted Ribbontail Ray Fun Facts

What do blue-spotted ribbontail rays look like?

The blue-spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma) are beautiful fishes with prominent blue spots across the body. These fishes have an elongated body with blue spots on top and blue stripes towards the side of the tail. This species has two venomous spines towards the tip of the tail.

The rays have a striking similarity to the blue spotted stingray which are also seen near the coral reefs. Although these stingrays are found inshore and have a thinner tail.

These stingrays have whitish-blue spots rather than only blue spots. There are two spikes near the tail which are venomous and the gills are present near the spiracles. The spiracles push the water towards the gills.

How cute are they?

Needless to say, these fishes are extremely beautiful but are scary as well due to their appearance. The bright colors indicate to the other creatures how dangerous these rays can be.

How do they communicate?

These rays create electrical fields and use these to communicate with other members as well to locate prey. They use electroreception to connect through the electric stimuli and the organs are known as electroreceptors.

How big is a blue-spotted ribbontail ray?

Ribbontail rays have an average weight of around 11 lb (5 kg) and a length of 31.4 in (80 cm) which is shorter than a yellowfin tuna.

How fast can a blue-spotted ribbontail ray swim?

The exact speed of the ray, ribbon tailed is not known. Although they are known to be fastest during high tide and mostly remain buried under the sand of coral reef to attack the prey.

How much does a blue-spotted ribbontail ray weigh?

Ribbontail rays have a weight of 11 lb (5 kg) on average. They are not very large and are 30 times lighter than an average blue spotted fantail ray. A fantail ray has an average weight of around 330 lb (150 kg).

What are the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name given to the male and the female members of this species.

What would you call a baby blue-spotted ribbontail ray?

A baby ray is generally referred to as a young ray or fry.

What do they eat?

The blue spotted ray is carnivorous by nature. They mostly feed on mollusks, polychaete worms while they hunt for crabs, shrimp, and small benthic fishes as well.

Are they poisonous?

These rays are known to have a poisonous tail with venomous spines. The tail contains a barb at the end which is venomous and dangerous to other species and humans.

Would they make a good pet?

These rays are mainly a creature of the marine ocean but the young are sometimes seen to be kept in public aquariums or in a vast tank for breeding purposes.

Did you know...

Due to the absence of a swim bladder, these rays can sit or sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Are blue-spotted stingrays endangered?

The conservation status of the blue-spotted stingray or blue-spotted ribbontail ray is Least Concern. This stingray is not endangered.

How many eggs does blue-spotted ribbontail ray lay?

Unlike yellow tang, the blue-spotted ribbontail does not lay eggs as the eggs grow inside the female's body. This species produces four to seven live youngs on average in a single breeding season.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other fishes from our rockmover wrasse fun facts or bigmouth buffalo fish surprising facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable x ray fish coloring pages.

Main image by Andrepiazza

Second image by Jean-Marc Kuffer