New Caledonia, Coral Sea, South Pacific
Five meters beneath our sailboat, a cowtail stingray is feeding on the sea floor. One of our many aquatic neighbours in the New Caledonian lagoon so fun to watch and observe...
Also called broad cowtail stingray, fantail ray or feathertail stingray, this stingray's name refers to its tail. In latin it is named Pastinachus ater. This species occurs in tropical marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific and can reach a total length of 3 meters and width of 1,8 meters.
It is a bottom feeder, foraging on the seafloor, sifting through the sand in search for food such as small bony fishes and a range of benthic invertebrates, including crustaceans, molluscs and marine worms. When finding its meal the ray use suction force to inhale the prey before chewing and swallowing it…
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