In a rare sighting, one of the deep-sea diving creatures, which can comfortably swim and hunt at depths of up to 6,000 feet, was caught on camera off the US East Coast, researchers said.
According to a study published in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of Great Britain, the sculpin devil ray, an endangered species, is very large and can grow up to 12 feet in width.
Rays live in pockets of oceans around the world but have never been documented near the United States.
To validate their data, the Marine Megafauna Foundation researchers complied ray sightings from multiple sources, including scuba divers, aerial surveyors and social media sites.
“One sighting included video of a devil ray accidentally swimming into the darkness of a commercial saturation diver’s airline!” said Jessica Pate, a research scientist at the Marine Megafauna Foundation, in a news release.
The researchers concluded that “180 sightings and 361 individual Sicklefin devil rays [which were] Between 1996 and 2022 gathered in waters off the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.”
Their findings extend the recognized range of rays to include the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Pete said: “People often don’t know these rays exist – they sometimes confuse them with manta rays, which are much larger,” adding that the study shows that “the How scientists often make really important observations and protect endangered species.”
The researchers noted that having up-to-date information on the rays’ habitat is critical to understanding the risks posed by fishing.
A report published in 2019 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the ray as Endangered, although this is difficult to confirm, but it appears that their population is in decline. has been
According to the report, these fish are commonly found in India and Indonesia, often inadvertently caught as part of bycatch.
Although little is known about their biology, it is believed that they only reproduce once every few years, meaning they need a long time to replenish their population, according to the report. .
Pete noted: “This study highlights how anecdotal observations and observer data can provide important information about rare, vulnerable, and difficult-to-study species.”