Name:
Scientific name: Taeniura lymma
Common name: Blue Spotted Fantail Ray
AKA: Bluespotted ribbontail ray, Ribbontailed Stingray, Blue-spotted Stingray, Fantail Ray, Bluespotted Ribbontail, Bluespotted ray, Bluespotted lagoon ray, Lesser fantail ray, Lagoon ray, Reef ray, Ribbontail stingray, Raja lymma (superceded name), Trygon ornatus

Country of origin: Marine - Indo-West Pacific - including Northern Australia

pH: 8.1 - 8.4
Temperature: 22 - 25c
Specific gravity: 1.020 - 1.025

Maximum size: 35 cm across, 80 cm long

Diet: They are carnivorous. They can be fed cleaned squid, freshwater glass shrimp, scallops, shrimp or fish.

In the wild they live on the reef, and as the tide comes in at night, they move up to hunt invertebrates such as shrimp, worms, snails and bony fish, returning to the reef as the tide goes out.

It often refuses to eat in the home aquarium.

Breeding:
Females give birth to cluches of up to 7.

Tank companions: It will eat shrimplets, and probably adult shrimp. It is NOT recommended to keep with shrimp.

It is naturally predated on by sharks, large fish & dolphins. Any fish large or aggressive enough to fit the stingray in its mouth will eat it. Equally, the stingray, being a natural hunter, will predate on any fish, shrimp, shellfish or snails small enough to fit in its mouth. This should be considered when choosing tankmates.

It lives and hunts in small groups in the wild.

Tank size:
A 570 litre tank minimum.

Position in tank: It lives at the bottom of the tank. Because of this it should not be kept in tanks with rough or sharp substrates (such as the AquaOne gravel range, which is made from crushed glass), but needs a sand substrate. It shelters in caves or under ledges during the day, feeding at night.

It requires good water quality (achieved through frequent & regular water changes) & clean substrate.

It has smooth skin, other than some thorns along its back. It is capable of giving an extremely painful sting. Take care when handling them. It has a brown body, covered with distinctive aqua-blue rings. It weighs up to 5kg.

It is vulnerable to copper-based medications & treatments in the tank, which can be fatal.

It is often confused with other stingrays.

A marine stingray which is on the allowable import list:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiv...mport-list.pdf

It is one of the most common stingrays in the aquarium trade. It often does not live long at all when kept in home aquariums, so needs an experienced keeper.

It lives in reef environments up to 30m deep.

It is frequently affected by parasites.

Taeniura lymma are NOT legal imports to Australia as of 20/10/2013:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiv...mport-list.pdf
however, as Australian natives, they can legally be purchased from Australian stock.

Taeniura lymma is listed as "near threatened" on the IUCN Red List at 20/10/2013:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39412/0
It is under threat both due to reef habitat destruction & various types of fishing (net, explosive, chemical - cyanide).

It is very important not to release any aquarium specimens into our waterways. Any that are not sold or re-homed/ given away, can often be re-sold to aquarium stores. If they are homed in ponds, care should be taken that they cannot escape in run-off into our waterways. Even if fish are native & local they should not be moved from one waterway to another, as this can transfer disease. If they are not local fish, they can both spread disease and either out-compete or eat local fish, shrimp & plants, causing their demise.

It is a good fish for experienced hobbyists.



Relevant threads/ articles:
Australian Museum page:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Blues...-Forsskal-1775