Rays gettin' some rays

This observation 'blew me out of the water'!

The fish are Mangrove Whiprays, Himantura granulata.

Javier Delgado Esteban stated, "On the 3rd day working on my project I recorded a group of around 20 to 30 juvenile Whiprays resting under a mangrove tree's shade at high tide. I spent a couple of hours in the water with them being very still until they seemed to get used to the click on my shutter, some were less shy than others and were happy to be very close to the camera. I observed that they seem to emit a very dry clap and I was wondering if this was some form of communication as that is what appeared to me."

Javier has uploaded video footage to the Australasian Fishes YouTube Channel. The clicking sound is clearly audible in the video. View all of Javier's observations of this species.

According to Helfman et al (2009), "Sound production occurs in well over 50 families of cartilaginous and bony fishes." A number of different mechanisms are used to generate sound, ranging from grinding of teeth, to 'sonic ligaments' through to 'fish farts'. For this short blog I have not done any investigation into the sound production in rays. I think it would be a fascinating area of research.

Javier's excellent photographs have earned him several awards, as can be seen on his LinkedIn page.

Thank you Javier! Your patience and skills have resulted in a fascinating observation.

Reference:
Helfman, G.S, Collette, B.B., Facey, D.E. and B.W. Bowen. 2009. The diversity of fishes: biology, evolution and ecology. 2nd edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester. Pp. 720.