Texas Gulf Coast Fishing

Cownose Ray

COWNOSE RAY - Rhinoptera affinis

Description: A Cownose Ray is typically brown-backed with a whitish or yellowish belly. Although its coloration is not particularly distinctive, its shape is easily recognizable. It has a broad head with wide-set eyes, and a pair of distinctive lobes on its subrostral fin. When threatened the Cownose Ray can use the barb at the base of it's tail to defend itself from the threat. A Cownose Ray has a stinger, called a spine, on its tail, close to the ray's body. This spine has teeth lining its lateral edges, and is coated with a weak venom that which causes symptoms similar to that of a bee sting.
Feeding Habits: The diet of the Cownose Ray consists primarily of bivalve mollusks. It has a set of dental plates designed for crushing clams and oyster shells. They employ a combination of stirring motions of the pectorals while sucking/venting both water and sediment out through the gills and away from the area to create a central steep-sided cavity depression. The continued movement of the pectoral fins aids in dispersing the sediments released from the gills and increases the depth of the depression. Eventually, the food is seized and drawn into the mouth. Common prey items include finfish, crustaceans, mollusks, bony fish, crabs, lobsters, bivalves, and gastropods.
Size: Cownose Rays grow rapidly, and male rays often reach about 35 inches in width and weigh 26 pounds. Females typically reach 28 inches in width and weigh 36 pounds.
Where Found: The distribution of the Cownose Ray includes the eastern Atlantic Ocean including Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea. They are also located in the western Atlantic from southern New England to northern Florida (USA) and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, migrating to Trinidad, Venezuela, and Brazil.
Habitat: This pelagic species is also sometimes found in inshore waters. For the most part, this species is known for its migrations to different parts of the ocean. The environments in which they are found include brackish and marine habitats. They are found at depths to 72 feet. They are gregarious and make long migrations. The Cownose Ray population is believed to be increasing in numbers. The migration patterns, in the Atlantic, include a northward movement in the late spring and southward movements in the late fall. Southbound migration has been observed to contain larger schools than the northbound migration. It is believed that the changes in water temperature, coupled with sun orientation, may initiate seasonal mass migrations.