The Thornback Ray

french name : Raie bouclée

English name : Thornback ray

latine name : Raja clavata

Geographic distribution: the Thornback ray is distributed worldwide. It can be found between depths of 20 and 300 m (and up to 500 m), and in most areas from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean, including the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the North Sea and the Atlantic.

Habitat: it often lives near the coast, where it is able to camouflage itself on the sea bed. Once it has settled on the bottom, only it eyes are visible.

Diet: adults feed on fish and young rays feed on worms and crustaceans.

Behaviour: when a crustacean or fish comes within range, the ray will attack and smother it’s prey before crushing it. The Thornback ray has powerful rows of teeth in its upper jaw. These are arranged in transverse files resembling a ‘pavement’ and which can easily crush molluscs.

Reproduction: the summer mating season is an opportunity to see large numbers of Thornback rays congregating. The female will lay her quite large eggs a few weeks later.

Threats: Overfishing and pollution.