So I have a bad habit of once in a long while logging onto the site, asking questions about stupid things that I'll never actually be able to own [i.e. electric rays and small sleeper sharks] and then disappearing, waking up from my stupid fantasies of owning impossible fish.
Well here I am again, 5 years since my last thread, and now actually gainfully employed and the co-owner of a house with a ton of empty space in the basement. I was browsing gulfspecimen.org for weird, dumb things that I can devote an entire species-only tank to, like a lightening whelk or a crapload of small sea cucumbers, when I once again came across their listing for the smooth butterfly ray.
I *LOVE* oddball rays that get very little attention, but I remember reading years ago that butterfly rays were damn-near impossible for private hobbyists to keep, partly because of their size, partly because they're super finicky like electric rays and just don't do well, but then I started to double check to make sure I was remembering this right and I have come across 2 things:
1. The information about this animal's size is extremely mixed; some sources saying that they reach 4-5ft across like the spiny butterfly ray, others saying that they mostly stay below 2ft across. This source:
www.researchgate.net
describes this as "A small to medium size butterfly ray " and says that they were only able to find 1 female larger than 2ft across, and the maximum size for females was almost 3ft [80cm] across. The maximum size for males was only 1.5 feet across. The largest male that they actually found and analyzed was only 36cm.
That still makes them [females anyway] a fairly beefy ray, but much smaller and presumably more manageable than the spiny butterfly ray.
2. I can't find anything about these animals actually being super sensitive and finnicky. I thought I remember reading them having problems with feeding and would starve to death like electric rays, but now I can't find that anywhere. The only thing I've seen is that they have point, shark-like teeth and will eat silversides in captivity, possibly being specialized fish-eaters in a way that most other rays are not. Also they tolerate wide ranges of salinities
So my question to you all is.... have any of you heard of anyone working with this species? Or really any kind of butterfly ray? If these guys stay small [or at least the males do] and just eat silversides... could that make them secretly one of the best saltwater rays to own?
Well here I am again, 5 years since my last thread, and now actually gainfully employed and the co-owner of a house with a ton of empty space in the basement. I was browsing gulfspecimen.org for weird, dumb things that I can devote an entire species-only tank to, like a lightening whelk or a crapload of small sea cucumbers, when I once again came across their listing for the smooth butterfly ray.
I *LOVE* oddball rays that get very little attention, but I remember reading years ago that butterfly rays were damn-near impossible for private hobbyists to keep, partly because of their size, partly because they're super finicky like electric rays and just don't do well, but then I started to double check to make sure I was remembering this right and I have come across 2 things:
1. The information about this animal's size is extremely mixed; some sources saying that they reach 4-5ft across like the spiny butterfly ray, others saying that they mostly stay below 2ft across. This source:
(PDF) Taxonomic and morphological revision of butterfly rays of the Gymnura micrura (Bloch & Schneider 1801) species complex, with the description of two new species (Myliobatiformes: Gymnuridae)
PDF | An extensive taxonomic revision of Gymnura micrura based on external and internal morphology, and considering specimens from its entire... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
www.researchgate.net
That still makes them [females anyway] a fairly beefy ray, but much smaller and presumably more manageable than the spiny butterfly ray.
2. I can't find anything about these animals actually being super sensitive and finnicky. I thought I remember reading them having problems with feeding and would starve to death like electric rays, but now I can't find that anywhere. The only thing I've seen is that they have point, shark-like teeth and will eat silversides in captivity, possibly being specialized fish-eaters in a way that most other rays are not. Also they tolerate wide ranges of salinities
So my question to you all is.... have any of you heard of anyone working with this species? Or really any kind of butterfly ray? If these guys stay small [or at least the males do] and just eat silversides... could that make them secretly one of the best saltwater rays to own?
