Page 153 - Caribbean Reef Life Demo

SPOTTED EAGLE RAY (Aetobatus narinari) < 2.5 m / 8 ft
The top of the body is black with white spots and circles. The belly is white. Flattened upturned snout. Small eyes.
Eagle Rays look very different from below and from above. This helps them to move about without being noticed by their main predators, the sharks. The white belly makes them hard to spot from below when looking up towards the light. The spots on their backs help to break up their outlines when they are seen from above.
Eagle Rays and stingrays have mouths under their bodies for digging into the sand, where they nd food such as conch, clams and other invertebrates, although they can also eat small sh. They sense prey by using electro-receptors similar to those found in sharks. They have skeletons made of cartilage, except for two bony plates in their mouths used for crushing food. Stingrays have sharp barbs on their tails that can inject a powerful neurotoxin. Some will bury into sand to ambush their prey, with only their eyes and gill-openings showing.
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