I lost my ray, curious about the cause

Masterofnonsense · 03/08/2016, 10:56 PM

After 2 years and 1 month, I sadly lost my Blue Spotted Ray. I am curious if anyone might be able to help me understand what happened. The ray always had a great feeding response. He would come close to jumping out of the tank with excitement when I would feed him. It actually would make quite a mess.

Everything was typical two days ago, he ate vigorously, but then yesterday when I got home from work I could tell something wasn't right. He was breathing heavily and lethargic. It took me a while till I noticed he had a large red ball, about 1/2 the size of a golf ball protruding from his anus. I had never seen this before. Sadly by this morning he had passed. Does anyone with experience in sharks and rays have any ideas as to what might have caused this?

seamonkeyminer · 03/08/2016, 11:06 PM

Maybe some type of blockage causing strain and intestines prolapse out the vent. Missing any snails or hermit crabs?

I have seen it before on large skates but this was in the wild and captured on fishing boats so kind of different scenario.

Sorry for your loss

alprazo · 03/09/2016, 09:14 PM

Rectal prolapse. It is not that uncommon. It is usually not dangerous/deadly, but can become a risk if fish pick and bite the area. Diet is probably the reason, but I don't think we truly know.

Masterofnonsense · 03/09/2016, 09:45 PM

Interesting about the diet. The ray really loved PE Mysis, and that was the bulk of his diet. I never had luck with squid or salmon. I was leery of using silversides as I had read too many stories of them having gone bad before freezing and having deleterious effects when used as feed. Do you think the high fat content might be the culprit? I can't imagine the shells on such small shrimp would be difficult to process.

I didn't have any hermits, and I don't think the ray would try to take on something as hard as a snail shell.

alprazo · 03/09/2016, 09:54 PM

Not sure. I feed mine green crabs sometimes. Shell and all, I just break off the claws. Never an issue. I think it might be the opposite. No fiber. Btw uterine prolapse can look the same and is probably what the skate/Rays had while fishing. That shouldn't happen in an ray that is immature or nulligravida

Masterofnonsense · 03/09/2016, 10:08 PM

My ray was an immature male, so I think uterine is out of the question. The thought of fiber crossed my mind, but I didn't know if it was applicable to marine carnivores. Would that mean you need to feed some type of pellet to get fiber into their diet?

Fishfirst · 03/09/2016, 10:48 PM

Did you open the body cavity up and check things out? How did the liver look?

Masterofnonsense · 03/09/2016, 11:13 PM

I threw the body in the freezer, so I will try looking at the liver tomorrow after work.

USMCSS · 03/10/2016, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masterofnonsense

I threw the body in the freezer, so I will try looking at the liver tomorrow after work.

Definitely keep us posted on this once you do autopsy it. Try to take some photos as well.

03/08/2016, 10:56 PM	#1
Masterofnonsense Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 111	I lost my ray, curious about the cause After 2 years and 1 month, I sadly lost my Blue Spotted Ray. I am curious if anyone might be able to help me understand what happened. The ray always had a great feeding response. He would come close to jumping out of the tank with excitement when I would feed him. It actually would make quite a mess. Everything was typical two days ago, he ate vigorously, but then yesterday when I got home from work I could tell something wasn't right. He was breathing heavily and lethargic. It took me a while till I noticed he had a large red ball, about 1/2 the size of a golf ball protruding from his anus. I had never seen this before. Sadly by this morning he had passed. Does anyone with experience in sharks and rays have any ideas as to what might have caused this?

03/09/2016, 09:14 PM	#3
alprazo Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,695 Blog Entries: 4	Rectal prolapse. It is not that uncommon. It is usually not dangerous/deadly, but can become a risk if fish pick and bite the area. Diet is probably the reason, but I don't think we truly know. __________________ NOT Moved on.

03/09/2016, 09:54 PM	#5
alprazo Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,695 Blog Entries: 4	Not sure. I feed mine green crabs sometimes. Shell and all, I just break off the claws. Never an issue. I think it might be the opposite. No fiber. Btw uterine prolapse can look the same and is probably what the skate/Rays had while fishing. That shouldn't happen in an ray that is immature or nulligravida __________________ NOT Moved on.

03/09/2016, 10:48 PM	#7
Fishfirst Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 986	Did you open the body cavity up and check things out? How did the liver look? __________________ Proud member of the Tang Police Current Tank Info: Over 40,000 gallons of saltwater

03/08/2016, 11:06 PM	#2
seamonkeyminer Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4	Maybe some type of blockage causing strain and intestines prolapse out the vent. Missing any snails or hermit crabs? I have seen it before on large skates but this was in the wild and captured on fishing boats so kind of different scenario. Sorry for your loss

03/09/2016, 09:45 PM	#4
Masterofnonsense Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 111	Interesting about the diet. The ray really loved PE Mysis, and that was the bulk of his diet. I never had luck with squid or salmon. I was leery of using silversides as I had read too many stories of them having gone bad before freezing and having deleterious effects when used as feed. Do you think the high fat content might be the culprit? I can't imagine the shells on such small shrimp would be difficult to process. I didn't have any hermits, and I don't think the ray would try to take on something as hard as a snail shell.

03/09/2016, 10:08 PM	#6
Masterofnonsense Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 111	My ray was an immature male, so I think uterine is out of the question. The thought of fiber crossed my mind, but I didn't know if it was applicable to marine carnivores. Would that mean you need to feed some type of pellet to get fiber into their diet?

03/09/2016, 11:13 PM	#8
Masterofnonsense Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Colorado Posts: 111	I threw the body in the freezer, so I will try looking at the liver tomorrow after work.