Madeira Canary Islands Azores – Fishes Dr. Peter Wirtz

The Round sting ray is easily told apart from the Common sting ray (previous page): it has a much rounder
outline of the body, a darker colour and a slightly flattened tail that carries a skin fold on the lower rear edge.
Uniformly coloured animals are more common than spotted ones at Madeira and the Azores; spotted ones can
frequently be seen at the Canary Islands. Photo Peter Wirtz.
Butterfly rays (Gymnuridae)
Butterfly ray (Gymnura altavela)
Up to 2 m wing span. Madeira, Canary Islands. 0.5 – 70 m depth.
Butterfly rays can easily be recognized by their peculiar body shape. They are often buried in the sand,
sometimes already in a few cm water depth. They are related to sting rays and have two short spines on a very
short tail. After a gestation period of about six months, two to seven young are born. Photo Pedro Monteiro.
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Eagle rays (Myliobatidae)
Eagle ray (Myliobatis aquila)
Up to 1.1 m wing span. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 1 – 200 m depth.
Like sting rays, eagle rays carry one to two poisonous spines on the tail. The tail of the eagle ray is
particularly long; a small dorsal fin stands at its beginning (absent in sting rays). Eagle rays move through the
water beating their „wings“. They dig in sand and mud, in search of bivalves, which they can crush with their
strong tooth plates. They probably can smell bivalves that are buried in the substrate. Females are larger than
males; they give birth to five to seven young. Photo Peter Wirtz.