Common
Names: Marble ray, Marbled ribbontail ray, Marbled fantail ray,
Blotched ribbontail ray, Blotched fantail ray
Latin Name: Taeniura meyeni, Taeniura melanospilos
Family:
Dasyatidae
Identification:
Rounded disc grey with dense covering of black spots.
Size:
Maximum disc width
1.6m
Habitat:
Sandy
bays, rocky and coral reefs, estuaries, and lagoons.
Abundance
and distribution: Through out the east and west pacific and from the
Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
Very common around the Galapagos and Cocos Island.
Behavior:
Rests on sand.
Forages for bivalves, shrimps, crabs and bottom fishes.
Reproduction:
Ovoviviparous. litter up to 7.
Observations:
Scott Micheal notes a report of one
Marbled ray killing a diver with its barb.
Photographs:
Cocos Island (Costa Rica),
Ningaloo
Reef (Western Australia).
Similar
species: Blotched fantail ray
Taeniura meyeni. more densely covered in black spots and blotches forming a
black mat.
Reaction
to divers: Moves
away upon close approach.
Diving
logistics: Probably the best
encounters available with this ray are at Cocos Island off of the Pacific Coast
of Costa Rica, and in the Galapagos. At certain times at these locations
(probably related to mating) hundreds of rays gather together and can be spotted
on a single dive.
Diving at Cocos is strictly liveaboard only with two operators presently running
1 to 2 week trips. See the link to the Undersea Hunter and Inula Diving on the
Links page.
Other
diving locations submitted by readers:
References
and further reading:
Reef
Sharks and Rays of the World. Scott W. Michael. Sea Challengers.
