Yantai stingray facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yantai stingray |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Hemitrygon
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| Species: |
laevigata
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The Yantai stingray (Hemitrygon laevigata) is a type of stingray. It lives in shallow parts of the northwestern Pacific Ocean, near China and Japan. These stingrays are not very well known.
They are small, growing to about 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) wide. They have a flat, diamond-shaped body. Their skin is very smooth. The top of their body is yellowish-gray-brown with dark spots. The bottom is white with more spots and yellowish edges.
The Yantai stingray is one of the most common stingrays sold for food in China. However, they reproduce slowly. This means their numbers might be going down because of too much fishing and damage to their homes. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says this stingray is vulnerable, which means it needs protection.
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About the Yantai Stingray
The Yantai stingray was first described in 1960. A scientist named Yuanting Chu wrote about it in his book, Cartilaginous Fishes of China. He studied stingrays found in places like the Shanghai Fish Market.
Where Yantai Stingrays Live
You can find the Yantai stingray in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. They live as far north as Japan and as far south as the Taiwan Strait. People say there are many of them off southern Japan and northern China.
These stingrays live on the ocean floor in coastal waters. They can be found in water up to 50 m (160 ft) deep. They have even been seen in estuaries, which are places where rivers meet the sea.
What Yantai Stingrays Look Like
The Yantai stingray is a small animal. Males grow to about 20 cm (7.9 in) wide, and females can reach 30 cm (12 in) wide. Their body is shaped like a diamond, wider than it is long. The front edges are mostly straight, leading to a blunt nose.
They have large eyes that stick out a bit. Right behind their eyes are two small holes called spiracles. These help them breathe. They have a small mouth with three bumps inside. Their teeth are flat, like a pavement. Adult males have sharp teeth, but females and young stingrays have blunt teeth. They have about 40 rows of teeth in their upper jaw. They also have five short gill slits on their underside.
Their tail is long, about 1.4 to 1.8 times the length of their body. It gets thinner towards the end, like a whip. The tail has a stinging spine about 42 mm (1.7 in) long. This spine has about 60 small teeth-like parts. After the spine, there are two small folds of skin on the tail. Their skin is very smooth, even on adult stingrays.
The top of their body is yellowish-gray-brown with dark, uneven spots. They also have yellow marks near their eyes and spiracles. The bottom of their body is white with dark spots and yellowish edges. Their tail is dark brown with a yellow stripe on the side.
Life Cycle and Behavior
We don't know much about how Yantai stingrays live. Like other stingrays, the females give birth to live young. They probably have only one or two babies at a time.
Yantai Stingrays and People
Yantai stingrays are usually harmless to humans. However, people who work with fish have been stung by their venomous tail spine. If someone gets stung, it can cause a lot of pain and swelling. It might also lead to weakness, feeling sick, heart problems, tingling, or even seizures. In very rare cases, it can be dangerous.
Fishermen sometimes catch Yantai stingrays by accident while trying to catch other fish. In Japan, these stingrays are often mistaken for another type of stingray. Because they are small, they are usually thrown back into the sea. But in China, it's different. The Yantai stingray is one of the three most common stingrays sold in markets there.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the Yantai stingray as vulnerable. This is because they reproduce slowly. This means their population might not be able to recover from all the fishing in the Yellow and East China Seas. Also, their homes are being damaged by building along the coast. People who have seen them in Chinese markets say there are far fewer Yantai stingrays now than there used to be.
