Do rays modulate their feeding behavior with different prey types?

Samantha Mulvany

University of South Florida
Department of Biology
Tampa, FL

Samantha Mulvany, graduate student under Dr. Philip Motta at USF, spent several days at KML while capturing yellow stingrays (Urolophus jamaicensis) for her research project. Sam is studying the feeding kinematics in a variety of batoid species and is hoping to relate any kinematic findings to their morphology. Some derived batoids have cephalic lobes (lobes on the head) which aid in feeding. It will be interesting to see if having these cephalic lobes increases their ability to modulate feeding behavior or capture more elusive prey. Sam will be running phylogenetic comparisons to explore differences among species and determine any evolutionary correlations.

Bay side of Long Key: seawall overlooking a prime seagrass and hardbottom habitats where rays are typically spotted

A visit from curious local law enforcement while collecting rays

Captured rays were transported back to USF for further behavioral studies.