A pearl stingray is born in the Primorsky Aquarium.
In the Research Building for Adaptation of the Primorsky Aquarium a baby has been born to Potamotrygon sp. “Pearl ray”, the rarest species of freshwater stingray also known as the pearl river stingray.
The newborn is weighing about 80 g, and its disc width is 8 cm.
The gestation lasted 4 months, which is common to freshwater stingrays. As stingrays are very ‘picky’ while choosing their mates, the breeding program was tailored to such behavior. To increase the chances for successful reproduction of the species, our biologists placed two males and two females of the same age and size into a separate tank and developed a special diet for them.
The pup will live in the Research Building for Adaptation until it gets bigger and stronger. The baby stingray is a hearty eater; every day it consumes half a teaspoon of feed and prefers salmon and shrimps to scallops. The pup spends most of its time buried in the sand. And only its large eyes projecting above the body are uncovered that helps to find the young stingray in the tank.
General information
The species got its common name because of an impressive golden and black dorsal colouration.
Even a newborn pearl river stingray has a repeated colour pattern that is characteristic of the species. During the first months of life the pattern colours do not contrast in lightness, due to which a pup almost blends in with the sandy bottom.
Stingrays are not caring parents: on giving birth to a pup, the female leaves it to its fate.