A ray you don't see everyday, the question is...

[alprazo]

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Smooth butterfly ray - approximately 15"

I understand that they can be difficult to keep. Anyone have luck with one or seen one in a public display.

 

[Dmorty217]

Never seen one before, looks to be miniature manta ray like. Sweet score, I'm assuming it's yours?

 

[alprazo]

It looks like Baltimore had some success with the spiny butterfly ray - a larger cousin. It took months of tube feeds - starting almost immediately, but both started eating on their own. I have access to plenty of live small fish, crabs and have a lot of experience in tube feeding, so I'm thinking about giving it a try.

The ray was caught in a minnow net and is being held in a small baby pool for the next day or two; until I decide what to do.

 

[griseum]

I think they were available a few years back locally. If I recall properly they are somewhat euryhaline, subtropical temps (?) Similar but bigger to the blue spotted ray (Dasyatis Kuhlii). I don't think many of them were kept successfully, but I could be wrong.

Are these the same ones found the east coast, well inland in rivers, as well?

 

[alprazo]

I think the smooth is found in the Eastern and Western Atlantic as well as the Eastern Pacific. The Spiny is more common in my area buts gets way too big.

It was pulled out of 81F water temp and a SG of 1.022 at the entrance to the Delaware Bay across from Cape May, NJ.

 

[Zoodiver]

Hey, just saw this and your email at the same time. The trick is to get it eating. If you can do that, you'll be ok.

I have kept a few of these. Never an easy task. All of them required tube feeding (regardless of size collected at) with a B12 supplement to spark appetite. Most usually started on live shrimp, then took salmon and mysis shrimp.
I had one batch of pups born that would only eat live.

The one thing I've noticed about them is they seem VERY susceptible to bacterial infections. We ran ours in kanamycin/nitrofurazone mix for a couple of weeks when they first would come in.

I'll see if I can dig out some old pics for you.
Paul (PPoeschl on MFK) is starting to do more work with butterflies as well.

 

[alprazo]

Thx Matt.

First feeding will be today. I caught a bunch of small soft shell lady crabs and froze them. I think that is what she was feeding on.

 

[alprazo]

BTW. She is back in the Atlantic. She started to show rubbing on her nose and some abrasions on the underside of her disc. I gave her a shot of Baytril and off she went.

 

[Zoodiver]

I finally found those old pics.
Female:

Pups:

 

[TNTtropical]

beautiful rays!