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For the first time in scientific history, the wild smalleye stingray has been located and tagged by researchers.
The smalleye species is known for being the world’s largest and rarest marine stingray — and was finally spotted in Mozambique.
National Geographic explorer and ray expert Andrea Marshall set out off the coast of the Bazaruto Archipelago in search of the rare stingray.
After weeks of looking, Marshall spotted a smalleye in some shallow water, National Geographic (NatGeo) reported.
She was able to dive in after it and touched it with a six-foot-long pole to extract a small skin sample from its underside.
Shown above, a smalleye stingray visits a cleaning station on a coral reef, where fish and other invertebrates clean bigger animals of parasites. (Andrea Marshall)
The stingray stayed calm, which was good news for Marshall.
Smalleyes have a lethal stinging spine the length of a human forearm.
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One wrong move "would put us in mortal danger," Marshall told NatGeo.
Marshall is also the founder of the Mozambique-based Marine Megafauna Foundation.
The fish, native to the Pacific Ocean, can grow up to 10 feet long and eight feet wide.
Smalleye stingrays, also known as Megatrygon microps, can measure 10 feet in length and over 8 feet in width, according to NatGeo. (Ben Scott/National Geographic)
The species earned the name "smalleyes" for their little raisin-sized eyes, said NatGeo.
Since they're so rarely spotted, smalleyes are likely a critically endangered species, that publication also said.
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Marshall and her colleagues spent the following months diving at dawn for other smalleyes along the Mozambican coast.
The team tagged 11 smalleyes using both acoustic and satellite tags, in order to track long-distance travel and fine-scale movements.
Smalleye stingers can reach the size of a human forearm, said NatGeo. (Andrea Marshall)
Although the mission was a success, Marshall shared with NatGeo that she and her team encountered a few close calls.
This includes learning how the massive stingray can raise its stinger over its back and swing it around, much like a scorpion.
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Preliminary data shows that the stingray can dive more than 650 feet deep and swim hundreds of miles in a day, according to Marshall.
Researchers hope that tagging these stingrays will provide an answer to why they travel as far as they do.
Smalleye stingrays may look intimidating, but they're not aggressive and will only sting if provoked, Marshall said, as NatGeo reported. (Andrea Marshall)
The stingray's diving depth could explain its extremely small eyes, since vision isn’t as crucial down in the darkness, Marshall said.
The tags reportedly revealed that the stingrays hang out near the reefs at night, which could mean they feed at dawn and dusk.
Many questions remain regarding the behavior of smalleye stingrays; the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as "data deficient."
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Marshall’s goal is to gather enough information to lead to better protections for smalleyes, NatGeo notes.
Anyone wanting more detail can visit nationalgeographic.com.
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