uShaka welcomes six new stingray pups

uShaka Marine World welcomed six new stingray pups on Monday, January 27.

The pups were born at the Open Ocean Exhibit. The stingray mum, named Miss Cape Town, had three male and three female pups.

The aquarium staff were greeted on Monday morning by the six Thorntail stingray pups fluttering around the Open Ocean exhibit.

Last year the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) shared a story of how clinical veterinarian, Dr Francois Lampen joined his colleagues Dr Justin Hart and Dr Ryan Daly in the Open Ocean Exhibit, armed with an underwater ultrasound machine.

It was the first time that they have been able to carry out an ultrasound on any of the fish, sharks and rays while they went about their day in their exhibit, oblivious to the fact that a medical examination was taking place, said Dr Lampen.

“During the examination we observed that one of the large females was carrying pups. We were able to hover over her long enough to capture video and images of her embryos. Even though we were confident she was pregnant, when we actually saw three healthy embryos wriggling around on the ultrasound monitor, we could hardly contain our excitement. We continued to monitor her progress throughout her pregnancy through regular ultrasound scans,” said Dr Lampen.

Dr Hart said by using this novel method of monitoring the gestation period over multiple pregnancies, they will be able to get a better understanding of their embryonic development. This method is non-invasive and doesn’t require sedation which means doctors can monitor them on a frequent basis, said Dr Hart.

Dr Lampen said adult Thorntail stingrays are among the largest stingrays in the world and can grow to 200kg.

The new pups averaged at 2.3kg and will have a lot of growing up to do, he added.

The pups have been transferred to the nursery in the quarantine facility for the time being and SAAMBR will update on their progress.