ANIMALS- Hobby to Profession

Name: SAANVI J Class & Section: VIII B

FISH
Select an animal, stick the picture and answer the following:

Types: Aquatic/Amphibian/Terrestrial
Name the animal: Whiptail stingray
Scientific name: Dasyatidae
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes

Find out interesting facts about the animal:

 THEY’RE CLOSELY RELATED TO SHARKS: It’s believed that stingrays and most sharks
share a common ancestor and bother belong to the same group of cartilaginous
fish. They both hunt using electromagnetic pores, and their bodies are made of the
same cartilage.
 THEY DON’T HAVE A BONY SKELETON: Stingrays have a body that’s made up of
cartilage – the same kind that makes up human noses and ears. This allows for
better flexibility in the water and allows for their “flapping” motion of swimming.
 THEY’RE STILL DANGEROUS EVEN WHEN DEAD: The only time a stingray will use its
venom is when it’s stepped on – or if it’s dead. It’s common for divers to
accidentally step on a barb from a long-gone ray and for it to have the same
effects as a live stinger.

Do you have any questions?

What do whiptail stingrays eat?

Possible answer if any:

Whiptail Stingrays have a varied diet. Depending on availability they are known to
eat: mollusks, crustaceans, jellyfish, and bony fishes.

You tube link: https://youtu.be/Nbuu1Fa-c1k

Chapter name: Conservation of plants and animals, reproduction in animals

Words of the subject: Biodiversity, Biosphere reserve, deforestation, endangered, endemic, extinction, flora, fauna, migrate
 LIFE STYLE

Habitat: They are found worldwide in tropical to temperate marine waters, and a number
of species have also penetrated into fresh water in Africa, Asia, and Australia.

Zones: Tropical and temperate zone

Eating habits: Carnivorous/herbivorous/omnivorous

Venturing habit: Nocturnal/Diurnal: Stingrays are nocturnal and diurnal benthic predators

Temperature: Maximum/minimum: between 75° and 82° F.

Adaptation: How does the animal adapt to different seasonal changes?

 Stingrays have eyes on their dorsal or top surface, which allows them to see prey
moving above them while they are hiding in the sand. They also have good low-
light vision.
 Stingrays have other specialized senses to help them find food. They have a closed
lateral line system on their dorsal surface that can detect the streams of water
given off by oysters and other bivalves. They also have electroreception abilities.
 Stingrays lack the swim bladder and oil-filled liver that make fish buoyant. Due to
their lack of buoyancy, stingrays can sink to the ocean floor and hide from
predators in the sand for long periods. These adaptations for gliding and hiding
beneath the sand allow the stingray to conserve energy, which in turn allows them
to eat less.
 Stingrays breathe underwater, but they don't take water in through their mouths
and pump it through their gills like fish do. Instead, they have spiracles -- openings
for gas exchange -- behind their eyes, and their gills are on their flat underside.

Endangerment: How can the animal be endangered?

Data deficient: Data inadequate to determine a threat category for whiptail stingray.

Evolution: How did the animal evolve?

Stingrays first appeared about 60 million years ago and thus are from a lineage no older
than that of horses and primates. The tooth replacement so characteristic of modern
sharks seems to have evolved in fits and starts. The oldest fossil shark teeth are those of
predators that lived some 400 million years ago.

Extinction: How can the animal become extinct?

Stingray species are progressively becoming threatened or vulnerable to extinction,
particularly as the consequence of unregulated fishing.[4] As of 2013, 45 species have
been listed as vulnerable or endangered by the IUCN. The status of some other species is
poorly known, leading to their being listed as data deficient.

Symbiosis: How is the animal interdependent on other living being or how other living
being are dependent on the animal?
Stingrays have a mutualistic relationship with Bluehead Wrasses and Spanish Hogfish that

Chapter name: Conservation of plants and animals, reproduction in animals

Words of the subject: Biodiversity, Biosphere reserve, deforestation, endangered, endemic, extinction, flora, fauna, migrate
 make cleaning stations. Southern Stingrays go to these cleaning stations because these
fish eat parasites and mucus off of the stingray's bodies.

Bio-diversity: What is the effect of climate change on animal bio-diversity?

Consequences of climate change on the species component of biodiversity include:
changes in distribution, increased extinction rates, changes in reproduction timings etc.
Changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services due to climate change are not all
negative, with some species either thriving or adapting. Aquatic freshwater habitats and
wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs, arctic and alpine ecosystems, and cloud forests are
particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

What is the genome of the animal?

66 chromosomes, All the individuals showed a diploid number of 66 chromosomes, 584
Karyotypes of freshwater stingrays.

USES

Use for food: Stingrays can be eaten, and they do make good eating. They can be
cooked. As unappetizing as they look, and as weird as their anatomy seems, stingrays
(skates too) aren't much harder to clean than your usual table varieties. And, yes, they
make delicious dinners.

Other uses (clothes etc.): The skin of the ray is used as an under layer for the cord or
leather wrap (known as samegawa in Japanese) on Japanese swords due to its hard,
rough texture that keeps the braided wrap from sliding on the handle during use.

Useful for other animals: Stingrays have a mutualistic relationship with Bluehead Wrasses
and Spanish Hogfish that make cleaning stations.

LIFE CYCLE

What are the different needs of animal at four stages of life?

Different needs at different stages of capybara are proper food, water, temperature etc.

Life span: 15 to 25 years, Stingrays live for 15 to 25 years in the wild

The animal is Oviparous or Viviparous? Which reproduction mode does this animal has?
All Whiptail Stingrays are ovoviviparous. (A mode of reproduction in which the embryo is
contained within a membranous egg case. Upon hatching the embryonic ray remains
within the oviduct until fully developed but a placenta is not formed directly to the wall of
the uterus). They reproduce sexually.

What type of fertilization and how it happens in the animal?

Internal fertilization, Freshwater stingrays reproduce through internal fertilization. A male
impregnates the female by using a modified pelvic fin as he bites the female's back. The

Chapter name: Conservation of plants and animals, reproduction in animals

Words of the subject: Biodiversity, Biosphere reserve, deforestation, endangered, endemic, extinction, flora, fauna, migrate
 unborn young are ovoviviparous, meaning they are nourished by egg yolk inside the
mother's body.

What are the different stages from young ones to adult?

The life cycle of a stingray is similar to the life cycles of most other living organisms. It is
born, usually as part of a litter, ranging from five to ten. It grows to reproductive size and
continues to propagate the ray species.

Chapter name: Conservation of plants and animals, reproduction in animals

Words of the subject: Biodiversity, Biosphere reserve, deforestation, endangered, endemic, extinction, flora, fauna, migrate