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The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham, in the UK, is celebrating the arrival of three Blue-spotted Stingray babies. This is a first-ever for the city centre based Breed, Rescue, Protect team.

Native to the eastern and western Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, the graceful creatures are a high-risk species, also known as Maskrays, and are currently being threatened by overfishing, exploitation and the destruction of coral reefs. Only breeding once a year, three successful Blue-spotted Stingrays births, from two different mums, is a huge success for The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham.

The babies weighed less than 170g, measured less than 30cm long and 16cm wide, when they were first born a few weeks ago. The miniature miracles could grow up to 47cm wide and 70cm long, with a very venomous barb of up to 30cm long. They are easily distinguished by their reddish brown bodies, distinctive blue centers, and scattered black and blue spots.
Photo Credits: National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham
The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham's Aquarist, Naomi Bird, is perfectly placed to help the three very precious babies. A mum to be herself, it isn't the first time her maternal instinct has been called upon at the attraction. She has already raised the penguin colony, which absolutely adores her.

Naomi commented, "Blue-spotted Stingrays face serious threat from human-induced problems. If we want them around in our children's lifetime, it is important we act now. So we are absolutely delighted that two of our resident Blue-spotted Stingrays have bred successfully. I'd encourage everyone to take time to explore our underwater world in the heart of the city centre to learn more and support SEA LIFE's work to protect and preserve our precious sea creatures."

The Blue-spotted Stingray (Neotrygon kuhlii), or Kuhl's stingray, is a species of stingray of the Dasyatidae family. It was recently changed from Dasyatis kuhlii in 2008 after morphological and molecular analyses show that it is part of a distinct genus, Neotrygon.

The body of the species is rhomboidal and green with blue spots. Maximum width is estimated 46.5 centimeters (18.3 in).

The stingray's lifespan is estimated thirteen years of age for females and ten years for males.

The Blue-spotted Stingray feeds on shrimp, small bony fish, mollusks, crabs and other worms. Due to the fact that this ray is a shallow bottom feeder, it has a small variety of marine life to prey on. The species overpowers its prey by pinning them to the bottom of the seafloor with its fins. It has numerous tiny teeth, with the lower jaw being slightly convex. Like most stingrays, they also have plate-like teeth to crush prey.

They are generally found from Indonesia to Japan, and most of Australia. This stingray species is also targeted by many parasites such as: tapeworms, flatworms, and flukes.

The Blue-spotted Stingray is ovoviviparous (the embryos are retained in eggs within the mother's body until they are ready to hatch). The embryos receive nourishment from the mothers' uterine fluid. Mothers give birth to up to seven pups per litter; these pups range from 6 inches (150 mm) to 13 inches (330 mm) long at birth.

The species currently has no official classification by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. According to the IUCN Red List: "The Bluespotted Maskray (Neotrygon kuhlii) is reported throughout a wide range in the Indo-Pacific region, but may be a species-complex of more than five species. Investigation is vital to resolve the taxonomic issues associated with this species-complex and due to this taxonomic uncertainty it is not possible to assess the species beyond Data Deficient at present. The Bluespotted Maskray species-complex is extensively exploited in parts of its range, and is often abundant in Asian fish market landings. A relatively small stingray (to 47 cm disc width), it is likely more resilient to exploitation than larger inshore batoids, but overall management of catches is lacking across most of its range. It is a common bycatch of Australian prawn trawl fisheries where it is discarded. Information is generally required on catch rates and rates of fishing mortality across its range; the significance of this may be dependent on the taxonomic status of the species-complex as some species may be found to have restricted occurrences. It is also exhibited in some public aquariums, but does not constitute a major species in aquarium trade. Further work is required to identify the species involved and make full assessments of their status."

Visitors to the National Sea Life Centre Birmingham can catch a glimpse of the new arrivals as part of the attraction's "Behind the Scenes Tour" experience (available to pre-book with the best value or ultimate tickets packages online or for purchase at admissions). For further information, or to pre-book tickets online before your visit, please go to: www.SEALIFE.co.uk/birmingham/

For regular news, updates and competitions, The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham is also on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/sealifebirmingham and Twitter https://twitter.com/sealifebham

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The National Sea Life Centre Birmingham, in the UK, is celebrating the arrival of three Blue-spotted Stingray babies. This is a first-ever for the city centre based Breed, Rescue, Protect team. Native to the eastern and western Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, the graceful creatures are a high-risk species, also known as Maskrays, and are currently being threatened by overfishing, exploitation and the destruction of coral reefs.

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Stingrays have tails that are armed for defense. Some kinds of stingrays have a spine in their tail with a very sharp point and edges that are serrated or notched. Many species, including the exotic-looking blue-spotted stingray, have venom that is delivered through their tails. That venom, and the spine itself, can be dangerous to humans. Stingrays prefer shallow, near-shore waters in warm parts of the world. Here

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Hey kids, get ready to hold your breath and take a dip in the sea, as we explore these intere-sting stingray facts!
With the help of our friends over at The Deep, their stingray experts have helped us put together some fishy facts on these magnificient sea creatures - and what"s more, you can download their infographic for free and stick it on your wall!

Stingrays come in all shapes and sizes and are one of the most beautiful creatures in the sea, but let's face it, they are a little bizarre looking! Check out our cool facts about them, below...

1. Rays and skates are flattened fish closely related to sharks. All belong to a group of fish called Elasmobranchs.

2. These guys are pretty unique as they have no bones in their body - their skeleton is made up of flexible cartilage (the bendy stuff that your ears and nose are made from!).

3. Although they look near identical, rays and skates are actually different. Stingrays are ovoviviparous, meaning the young are hatched from eggs that are held within the body, whereas skates are oviparous, meaning they lay eggs - these eggs are protected by a hard, rectangular case often called a " mermaid"s purse "!

4. There are many different types of ray including stingrays, electric rays, butterfly rays, round rays, manta rays, guitarfish and sawfish.

5. Stingrays use a super set of senses to search for food. Special gel-filled pits across the front of their face, (called Ampullae of Lorenzini), allow them to pick up electrical signals from other animals when they move - cool! Their eyes are on the topside of their body and their mouth and gills can be found underneath, so in the darker depths or murky rivers this electromagnetic sense is especially useful for searching for prey.

6. Many stingrays like to live by themselves and only come together for breeding and migration. Some of the largest rays such as manta rays and cow nose rays never stop swimming and migrate in their thousands to feeding grounds each year. These large groups can reach up to 10,000 individuals and are known as a " fever ".

7. Rays protect themselves with venomous spines or barbs in their tail. Skates rely on thorny projections on their backs and tails.

8. Stingrays and skates feed on crustaceans, small fish, snails, clams, shrimp and other small creatures.

9. In 2008, a female bluespotted ribbontail ray gave birth to a set of twins at The Deep aquarium in Hull - a European first!

10. Stingrays" natural predators are sharks, seals, sea lions and other large fish.

11. Electric rays are named for their ability to generate and discharge a strong electric current to stun prey and for defence from potential predators.

12. Fossil records date stingrays back to the Jurassic period, 150 million years ago!

13. Rays can vastly vary in size. The smallest ray is the short-nose electric ray which is approximately 10cm across and weighs about 400g. The oceanic manta ray is the largest ray reaching up to 7m in wing span and weighs 2,000kg.

14. Sadly, numbers of sting ray are in decline. Overfishing, habitat loss and climate change are the major threats to rays. They"re also hunted for their gill rakers (used for feeding) for use in Chinese medicine. At present, 539 species of ray assessed are under the IUCN Red List, and 107 are classified as threatened.

The Deep is part of the European Breeding Programme for the bluespotted ribbontail ray and blue spot stingray, as well as the species monitoring programme for the honeycomb whiptail ray. This means they are helping to safeguard populations of these species and are leading the way in pioneering new husbandry techniques.

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14 facts about stingrays! | National Geographic Kids

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Hey kids, get ready to hold your breath and take a dip in the sea, as we explore these intere-sting stingray facts! With the help of our friends over at The Deep , their stingray experts have helped us put together some fishy facts on these magnificient sea creatures - and what"s more, you can download their infographic for free and stick it on your wall!

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SHORTER THAN A SCHOOL  BUS heavier than a piano slower than a car pian relf the bog one can the big ones get up to 60 feet long they don't use there eyes they love sand but can kill someone also can use camo

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Do you know How to pronounce Myliobatoidei?

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How do you say Myliobatoidei in English? Pronunciation of Myliobatoidei found 1 audio voice and 2 Meanings for Myliobatoidei.

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How to treat a Stingray sting. If you do get stung, your wound needs immediate attention. If you've been stung on your chest or abdomen, seek help immediately. Otherwise, if you can manage, pull the barb (or any spiny feeling fragments) out while you're still in salt water -- it'll help clean the wound.May 27, 2015

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With flat, wide bodies, stingrays may not look like fish, but they are!

They can be found in tropical and subtropical waters, because they like it shallow and warm. They're usually hidden on the seafloor. But each of the 60 species of stingrays are fascinating in their own way.

Let's take a look at the facts:
1. The largest species of stingray measure 6.5 feet in length and can weigh up to 790 pounds. Photo credit: wikipedia.com
Wowza. That's a big fish.
2. Stingrays are closely related to sharks. Photo credit: marinebiodiversity.com
They also don't have a bony skeleton. Instead their bodies are made up of the same kind of cartilage in our noses and ears.
3. Their long tails usually have a spine and venom. Photo credit: wikipedia.com
They use this venom to protect them from predators. In fact, Greek dentists once used it as anesthetic.
4. Stingrays eat clams, shrimp, and mussels. Photo credit: youtube.com
Since their mouths on on the body side of their bodies, they catch their prey, then crush and eat with their powerful jaws.
5. Stingrays don't use their eyes to find prey. Photo credit: pbworks.com
Their eyes are on top of their bodies, but they use their electro-sensors to locate their next meal.
6. Stingrays are solitary, but can also live in groups. Photo credit: imgur.com
Those groups are known as schools.
7. Stingrays give birth each year. Photo credit: tumblr.com
They can have between 2 and 6 babies a year, each which can live between 15 and 25 years in the wild.

Need more stingray facts? Visit nationalgeographic.com.

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With flat, wide bodies, stingrays may not look like fish, but they are! They can be found in tropical and subtropical waters, because they like it shallow and warm. They're usually hidden on the seafloor. But each of the 60 species of stingrays are fascinating in their own way.

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See why stingrays spend much of their time partially buried on the ocean floor. Find out just how deadly their venom can be.

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20 year old's 790 and  piano 500

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Stingrays have tails that are armed for defense. Some kinds of stingrays have a spine in their tail with a very sharp point and edges that are serrated or notched. Many species, including the exotic-looking blue-spotted stingray, have venom that is delivered through their tails. That venom, and the spine itself, can be dangerous to humans. Stingrays prefer shallow, near-shore waters in warm parts of the world. Here

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they spend most of their time lying partially buried on the ocean floor hiding from predators, like sharks, or waiting for prey to swim by. Their colors usually match the mud or sand they hide in. While a stingray's mouth is on the underside of its body, along with its nostrils and gill slits, its eyes are on the top. Scientists don't think they use their eyes for hunting very much though. Instead, they use special sensors called ampullae of Lorenzini, which can detect the tiny electrical charges emitted by their prey.​

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Stingrays, with their wide, flat bodies, may not look like fish, but they are. They are related to sharks, and like their shark cousins, they do not have bones. Instead, their bodies are supported by cartilage—the same material that you feel inside the tip of your nose. Stingrays have broad fins that run the full length of their bodies, giving them a flat, roundish shape. To swim, some stingrays move their whole bodies in a wavy motion that propels them through the water. Other species flap their fins like bird wings and "fly" through the water. ​

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COMMON NAME: Stingrays

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Myliobatoidei

TYPE: Fish

DIET: Carnivores

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 15 to 25 years

SIZE: Up to 6.5 ft

WEIGHT: Up to 790 lbs

SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN: