Who would have thought. There was a big ray in the blue, at maybe 20m depth, almost swimming like a manta, or an eagle ray. This was remarkable because stingrays usually sit on the sand, or swim close to the reefs.
It turned out to be a very rare stingray, and even the biggest saltwater stingray in the world. M. microps grows to over 2m size. Just a bit bigger is the Giant freshwater stingray Urogymnus polylepis, which can reach 2.4m disc width.
There is also a (Brazilian) large-eyed stingray, which does look a bit similar, but is much smaller.
Only 27 sightings are reported on iNaturalist, including mine. The first sighting is from 2014. For a comparison, the Ornate Eagle ray was reported 50 times since 2018. This stingray unlocked a new Fear Of Missing Out in me. You can only appreciate what you know, and this is not only true for recreational purposes. We can only understand the importance of nature when we understand how it works. Education is the key!
In 1908 August a M. microps female of 1.95m disc width was described by Thomas Nelson Annandale. The Scottish zoologist moved to India in 1904, and died there of Malaria 20 years later. He described the Small-eyed Stingray from Chittagong, Bangladesh.
The original document as soft copy was very easy to find, and to my surprise there’s even a photograph of the described fish in it. In 1908 color photography was still under development, and photography at all was still a rather new thing. Most original descriptions I have seen during the time of picmybug contain hand-drawn illustrations of animals.
Chittagong or Chittagam though wasn’t new at all in 1908. The harbor is known for almost 2000 years, thanks to Claudius Ptolemy, who wrote the book ‘Geographia’ which led to the creation of the Ptolemy world map in the second century of our time. Imagine a time 1800 years ago where only the winds carried ships, and animals carrued you on land. No newspaper, no telephone, only hand written books and verbal information. This book must have been a key to the world. You find information like location, names, safety, people and especially the availability of useful materials in it. That’s pretty much an easy version of an internet, isn’t it?
Chittagong is amongst the busiest sea ports in the world, and I wonder if Small-eyed stingrays can still be found there.
Some sources mention that Ptolemy called Chittagong one of the finest ports he has visited, but I wasn’t able to find that original section. I wasn’t even able to find the port mentioned in his book, probably because he used a name I couldn’t find. There’s a whole page on Wikipedia for all the names. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Chittagong
The small eyed stingray is one of the most rare animals I have ever seen. Though it was described 117 years ago, only in 2008 a huge population of M. microps was discovered and recorded near Tofo Beach, Mozambique, with a description of the colors of alive specimens (Pierce, White & Marshall 2008). There was also the ‘First film of a ‘giant’ stingray’ on BBC!
Similar to Mantas, individuals of these stingrays can be identified based on their spots. Boggio-Pasqua A, Flam AL, Marshall AD. Spotting the “small eyes”: using photo-ID methodology to study a wild population of smalleye stingrays (Megatrygon microps) in southern Mozambique.
Interestingly they seem to share a cleaning station with Manta rays in ‘Giants Castle’, as local dive operators mention on their websites.
The few publications about this fish (https://smalleyestingray.com/publications-of-m-microps/) include only one from the Maldives, from Giraavaru, which is home to the Centara Ras Fushi Resort. It is just 10km west off Malé.
Adam, M.S., N.R. Merrett and R.C. Anderson, 1998 reported that it was caught in March 1991 from a depth of 180m (!), and measured a disc width of 156cm. Since it was later ‘discarded’ I believe it didn’t survive it’s discovery.
Picmybug is almost five years old, and Megatrygon microps was the 100. animal! Wait for a summary and a best of!
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