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Southern Stingray

Southern stingrays spend their days stirring up sand along the ocean floor in the Northwest and Western Central Atlantic Oceans from New Jersey, USA to Amapá, Brazil. While these peaceful creatures aren’t looking for trouble, a surprised stingray might use its sharp spine if accidentally stepped on by an unsuspecting tourist. The next time you’re at the beach, be sure to watch your step for these shallow sifters! 

This entry is sponsored by The Masked Singer on FOX. Oceana and The Masked Singer are teaming up to spotlight stingrays and why protecting their ocean home matters. Tune in to see what’s revealed on FOX TV and Hulu.

 

If you’re looking to spot a southern stingray in the wild, you’re most likely to encounter one off the coast of Florida or the Bahamas. Although, these creatures can be found as far north as New Jersey, and as far south as Amapá, Brazil. 

Southern stingrays are mostly found in algal fields, shallow marine waters, or sea grass beds. Because they’re bottom dwellers, southern stingrays are almost constantly scouring the ocean floor for their next snack, which may be a crustacean, mollusk, or annelid. To locate their food, these rays glide close to the ocean floor, using their fins to stir up the silt and expose prey. They’ve also been observed shooting water from their mouths at potential food targets to reveal their location.  

Southern stingrays also have some sneaky camouflage tricks up their sleeves! When threatened, they can use their fins to cover themselves with sand to hide from predators. Although these stingrays’ beige bellies may blend in with the ocean floor, the tops of their flat bodies are grey and green, requiring some extra camouflage to avoid predators such as humans or hammerhead sharks!  

 

 

Southern stingrays are considered “near threatened” by the IUCN Red List, largely due to bycatch in artisanal and commercial fishing practices. For example, according to a 2016 study, in Mexico, southern stingrays accounted for upwards of 55% of all rays caught in gillnet and longline fisheries. Because southern rays are slow growing, and only birth on average 4 pups per litter, they are especially at risk of being overfished.  

 

 

Protecting southern stingrays requires protecting the habitats which they rely on to thrive. Flourishing sea grass beds, clean oceans, abundant fish, and responsible fishing solutions ensure the future of southern stingrays off the coast of the United States and beyond. Learn more about Oceana’s work to protect these crucial habitats here.  

 

 

 

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