Fantastic, Fascinating, & Frivolous Facts

      Out of all the organisms in the world, why did we choose Aetobatus narinari? We chose to create our webpage on spotted eagle rays because they are beautiful and majestic creatures. While flipping through a few marine books, we saw a photo of an eagle ray and were mezmerized by their vivid dorsal colorations. From our research about these animals, we've compiled a list of some interesting and fun facts for you: Photo of a spotted eagle ray in an aquarium. Courtesy of Tonton des Iles.

  • Mr. Ray, the science teacher from the Pixar film Finding Nemo, is a spotted eagle ray.
  • Spotted eagle rays have one of the highest brain to body ratios among all fish.
  • A. narinari have the ability to jump completely out of the water. There are many hypotheses for this fascinating behavior, including trying to get rid of parasites, escaping predators, and just trying to have fun.
  • In 2008, there was a news story about a spotted eagle ray leaping out of the water and unintentionally striking a woman on a boat in the Florida Keys.
  • A. narinari have been specifically targeted in the State of Campeche for over a hundred years (Cuevas-Zimbron et al. 2011)
  • In Mexico, the most expensive elasmobranch meat is that of A. narinari. Prices range from US $4.10 to $5.80 per kilogram (Cuevas-Zimbron et al. 2011).
  • A. narinari are believed to have originated in the Indo-Pacific before branching out into the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean (Richards et al. 2009).

Continue on to check out References used to create this website, or return to the Home page.