Not just Shark
Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and
chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based
field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter
different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into
a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark
diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark
pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and
conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a
constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark
links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and
stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to
check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on
an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:
If you're looking
for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links
represent a new area of elasmodiver.com that contains pictures of
other marine organisms and of marine habitats. This expansion of
Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages
on all types of marine mammals, bony fishes and marine invertebrates
as well as coastal habitats, reefscapes and other imagess relating
to the ocean. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.
Identification:
Pectoral fins narrow and rounded. Subrostral lobe (beak) short and rounded.
Dorsum uniformly brown without markings. Trailing edges of pectoral and pelvic
fins dusky. Ventrum pale. One or more spines on tail behind single small rounded
dorsal fin.
Size: Wing
span to 150cm.
Habitat:
Shallow bays and estuaries,
sometimes near
rocky
reef faces, and over sand flats (where it feeds). To 300m depth.
Abundance and distribution:
A common species. Occurs from the southern North Sea to South Africa including
the Mediterranean.
Behavior:
Feeds on clams, snails, crabs, worms, sea squirts, and small bony fishes.
Excavates it's prey from under the sand by flapping its powerful pectoral fins.
Reproduction: Ovoviviparous.
The male Common Eagle Ray possesses large tubercles (modified skin denticles)
that they may use to help them lock onto the female while mating.
Observations:
Photographs: Los Gigantes, Tenerife,
Canary Islands, Eastern Atlantic Ocean.
Similar species:
There are a number of other eagle / bull / bat rays some of which are very
difficult to tell apart. The best reference is geographic location.
Reaction to divers:
Quite timid and difficult to approach except at feeds where the individual rays
have been habituated to divers. See Below.
Diving logistics: A great place
to see and photograph common eagle rays is on one of the organized ray feeds at
Los Gigantes in the Canary Islands. Los Gigantes Diving offers freestyle feeds
once or twice per week. The divemaster takes a huge barrel of fish scraps to
60ft and offers them to the eagerly gathering ray species. After a while the
human participants usually help themselves to some fish and wander off to
interact with the rays on their own. The feed can be rather chaotic but the ray
action is almost guaranteed. Other than numerous Common Eagle Rays, the
attending species include common stingrays, roughtail rays, round stingrays and
occasionally angel sharks, butterfly rays, and marbled torpedo rays.
Very occasionally a large Bull Ray swims by.
Further reading:
Reef Sharks and Rays of the World. Scott W. Michael. Sea Challengers.
Sharks
and Rays - Elasmobranch Guide of the World. Ralf M. Hennemann. IKAN.
