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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(11)

Diet and reproduction in the white-spotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari from Queensland, Australia and the Penghu Islands, Taiwan

V. Schluessel A B C , M. B. Bennett A and S. P. Collin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.

B Institute of Zoology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloß, 53115 Bonn, Germany.

C Corresponding author. Email: v.schluessel@uni-bonn.de

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(11) 1278-1289 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09261
Submitted: 14 October 2009  Accepted: 26 May 2010   Published: 16 November 2010

Abstract

Aetobatus narinari, a circumglobal batoid, is subjected to increasing fishing pressures, especially throughout South-east Asia. However, its management and protection is complicated by the lack of relevant life history information. It appears to be a late-maturing, long-lived stingray with a size-at-maturity of ∼130 and >150 cm in ventral disc width for males and females respectively. Like other myliobatids, A. narinari is a matrotrophic viviparous species exhibiting lipid histotrophy as indicated by trophonemata. Only the left ovary and uterus are functional. The presence of mature sperm in the testes, collecting ducts, epididymis and ductus deferens coincided with the estimated time of parturition and mating. Catches indicated an unbiased sex ratio. Aetobatus narinari is a hard-prey specialist that feeds mainly on gastropods, molluscs and hermit crabs (Diogenidae). Molluscs comprised numerically and gravimetrically the most important prey group (Index of Relative Importance (IRI): 85.9% in Australia, 99.9% in Taiwan) and were observed in 83.3% and 100% of stomachs containing food from Australia and Taiwan respectively. Minor dietary shifts from a gastropod–crustacean to a more gastropod–bivalve based diet occurred as body size increased. This study provides vital biological data for the effective management and conservation of A. narinari.

Additional keywords: Chondrichthyes, ecology, elasmobranch, life history, stingray.


Acknowledgements

We thank John Page, Stephen Taylor and Sea World (Gold Coast, Australia) for help with animal collections, Justin Hsieh and the Makung Fisheries Institute for assistance in Taiwan and Jenny Giles, Barbara Wueringer, Guy Ely and Kurt Davis for volunteer work in Taiwan and on Heron Island. We also thank Tina Chua and Claire Aland for help with the histology processing, Sebastian Pardo for help with species identification, IRI and Primer analysis and Darryl Potter, Jon Healy and Peter Davie from the Queensland museum for help with the identification of gastropods, bivalves and crustaceans. Lastly, we thank the referees for their valuable comments on the manuscript. V.S. was supported by a DAAD postgraduate scholarship and a University of Queensland postgraduate living stipend. This project was supported by the UQ Graduate School and an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (LP0214956) to S.P.C. Experiments complied with the guidelines of The University of Queensland Animal Ethics Committee (AEC No: ANAT/781/06/ARC).


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