Wildlife officers pulled up a behemoth catch whereas surveying waters between Connecticut and Lengthy Island, New York, images present.
Whereas out on the Lengthy Island Sound, a crew caught a 400-pound roughtail stingray, together with a “giant predatory fish” known as a cobia, in keeping with a Thursday, Sept. 28, Fb submit from Connecticut Fish and Wildlife. The division shared images of each animals, wowing individuals within the feedback with their dimension.
“Our Lengthy Island Sound Trawl Survey crew by no means is aware of what they may see on a given time out on the Sound – yesterday was a stand-out instance,” the submit says.
Within the picture, the roughtail stingray was mendacity on its “ventral aspect,” which suggests its stomach was going through up, the submit says.
The roughtail stingray, which has a venomous barb like most different rays, was 6 toes lengthy and 5 toes extensive, the submit says. The utmost dimension of roughtail stingrays is about 7 toes, in keeping with discipline information Sharks and Rays.
Regardless of their harmful tail, roughtail stingrays are “light giants,” the submit says, and keep away from shallow areas the place individuals usually swim.
Stingrays just like the one caught Wednesday, Sept. 27, are discovered all down the Atlantic coast from New England to Florida, wildlife officers say, however a sighting within the Lengthy Island Sound is “comparatively uncommon.” They like “temperate and tropical seas,” in keeping with Sharks and Rays.
“Somewhat than try to roll the animal over, our crew shortly took some measurements and instantly returned the ray to the water to look at it swim away alive and properly,” wildlife officers stated within the submit.
The crew’s different catch of the day was the cobia, which may develop as much as 6 toes lengthy, the submit says. They’re usually “most ample” south of the Chesapeake Bay, the submit says, however local weather change has triggered them to be “an more and more widespread customer to Lengthy Island Sound.”
Cobia are recognized to eat crabs, shrimp, squid and different small fish, in keeping with the Chesapeake Bay Program. In addition they are thought-about to considerably aggressive when an angler reels them in, as they usually struggle again.
The 2 catches have been part of the Lengthy Island Sound Trawl Survey, which goals to “measure the abundance and distribution of finfish, squid and different macro-invertebrates” within the physique of water, in keeping with the Connecticut Division of Power & Environmental Safety.
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