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Reproductive cycle, nutrition and growth of captive blue spotted stingray, Dasyatis kuhlii (Dasyatidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2009

Max Janse  and
Johan W. Schrama
Max Janse*
Affiliation:
Burgers' Zoo, Antoon van Hooffplein 1, 6816 SH Arnhem, The Netherlands
Johan W. Schrama
Affiliation:
Aquaculture and Fisheries Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: M. Janse, Burgers' Zoo, Antoon van Hooffplein 1, 6816 SH Arnhem, The Netherlands email: [email protected]
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Abstract

At Burgers' Ocean 7 male and 3 female blue spotted stingrays, Dasyatis kuhlii were born over a period of 4.5 years. This paper describes the experiences of the captive breeding results of this species. The first two young died within 2 days of birth. One of them had an internal yolk sac, which may feed the young in the first few days. The other eight animals started to feed after 4 to 9 days on a variety of food types. Birth size of the young increased with increasing age of the parents. Mating occurred directly after parturition, so no seasonality could be defined. Gestation length ranged between 138 and 169 days, with a mean of 144.9±9.0 days (N = 11). Litter size was one, possibly caused by only one active ovarium. Sexual maturity of the two parent animals is approximately 3.5 years. The average feeding rations for the adults ranged between 10.1% BW week−1 (131 kcal kg BW−1 week−1) and 11.3% BW week−1 (172 kcal kg BW−1 week−1), with a feeding frequency of 4 times per week. The relationship between body weight (BW) and wingspan (WS) is given as BW = 3.6 × 10−5* WS2.940 (R2 = 0.9645; N = 45).

Keywords

reproductive cyclenutritiongrowthcaptive blue spotted stingrayDasyatis kuhlii
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 353 - 360
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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