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 measurement.
“Our Lengthy Island Sound Trawl Survey crew by no means is aware of what they may see on a given day trip on the Sound – yesterday was a stand-out instance,” the submit says.
Within the picture, the roughtail stingray was mendacity on its “ventral facet,” which implies its stomach was going through up, the submit says.
The roughtail stingray, which has a venomous barb like most different rays, was 6 ft lengthy and 5 ft large, the submit says. The utmost measurement of roughtail stingrays is about 7 ft, in keeping with area information Sharks and Rays.
Regardless of their harmful tail, roughtail stingrays are “mild 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.
“Slightly than try and roll the animal over, our crew shortly took some measurements and instantly returned the ray to the water to observe it swim away alive and nicely,” wildlife officers stated within the submit.
The crew’s different catch of the day was the cobia, which might develop as much as 6 ft lengthy, the submit says. They’re usually “most plentiful” south of the Chesapeake Bay, the submit says, however local weather change has induced them to be “an more and more frequent customer to Lengthy Island Sound.”
Cobia are recognized to eat crabs, shrimp, squid and different small fish, in keeping with the Chesapeake Bay Program. Additionally they are thought-about to considerably aggressive when an angler reels them in, as they usually combat again.
The 2 catches had 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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