By Obiabin Onukwugha
Stingrays are a type of fish with flat bodies and tails that have venomous barbs or spines. They are related to sharks and are part of the group of fish called elasmobranchs.
Stingrays have wide, flat bodies and broad fins that run the length of their bodies They have no bones, but their bodies are made of cartilage Some species of stingray fish live in warm temperate oceans, while others live in the deep ocean.
Stingray is known as Àpátámàjà or Ajíbẹ́tẹ́ in Yorùbá, Sika in Igbo and Kunaman ruwa, in Hauwa.
Stingrays’ natural predators are sharks, seals, sea lions and other large fish. They protect themselves with venomous spines or barbs in their tail.
They use a variety of senses to find food. They are carnivorous, feeding such marine life as crustaceans, small fish, snails, clams, and shrimps. The special gel-filled pits across the front of their face, called Ampullae of Lorenzini, allow them to pick up electrical signals from other animals when they move.
Stingrays play important role to the ecosystem. They don’t only create micro-habitats for invertebrates by digging through sand in search of food, stingray also help phytoplankton grow by diving between ocean depths and the shallows. Phytoplankton produces half of Earth’s oxygen supply.
Stingrays are ovoviviparous, bearing live young in “litters” of five to thirteen. During this period, the female’s behavior transitions to support of her future offspring. Females hold the embryos in the womb without a placenta. Instead, the embryos absorb nutrients from a yolk sac and after the sac is depleted, the mother provides uterine “milk”. After birth, the offspring generally disassociate from the mother and swim away, having been born with the instinctual abilities to protect and feed themselves.
Many stingrays like to live by themselves and only come together for breeding and migration.
Whaitere – the enchanted stingray
Whaitere – The Enchanted Stingray is one of the traditional Maori myths or teaching stories of the Maori people in New Zealand.
The story tells of a young stingray named Whaitere, whose parents suddenly disappeared. With help from the sea maiden, Hinemoana, Whaitere sets out to search for her parents in the underworld. Hinemoana, aka Woman of the Sea, was the wife of Kiwa, aka Guardian of the Sea.
Undergoing a number of adventures on her search, Whaitere finally finds her parents, but in doing so is given a huge responsibility – to look after the ocean. Whaitere becomes a Guardian and is tasked with teaching others to respect and care for the ocean. With the ongoing destruction today of our seas and the ensuing threats to marine life, Our seas need protection from many things as well, such as contamination, global warming, dumping and the potential extinction of animals.
That’s why it’s an important story to share with today’s children. Whaitere – The Enchanted Stingray will help to instil in children from an early age their environmental responsibility to our seas and marine life.
New Zealand’s seas are a delicate eco system that is constantly disrupted without thought to the future or the potential threats involved. We can learn much from the Maori people and this story for they understood and valued our seas long before we did.
