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Comments
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Encyclopedia of Life |
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Visit this species on the Encyclopedia of Life to find out more!
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Lifestyle
You can usually find me in the shallow sandy or rocky areas on a reef, but unlike my other stingray cousins I don't like to bury myself in the sand. It is important for me to stay clean so everyone can see my bright blue spots. These spots are a warning to everyone to stay away because I am venomous.
I also regularly visit cleaning stations on the reef. Kind of like a car wash, these are places where small fish and shrimp come to pick bacteria and dead skin from my body. At the cleaning station, everyone wins: I stay nice and clean and the fish and shrimp that help me get a free meal. Scientists call this a mutualistic relationship.
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Fun Facts
My tail is venomous! The tip of my tail has two sharp spines. By flipping my tail I can attack my enemies and inject them with my deadly venom. Another very cool thing about me is that I hunt my prey using electroreception, which means I can sense the electric fields given off by other animals. To catch my prey, I pin them to the reef bottom with my body and then crush them with the tooth plates in my mouth. They totally hate it when I do that.
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Menu
I love to eat shrimps, crabs, snails (and other mollusks), and small fish. I only eat animals so I am a carnivore.
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Threats
People hunt me to sell for aquariums, but I don't make a good aquarium animal because I grow too large.
Reefs are in danger, and that means so is my home!
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