The Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town has just welcomed a few darling new additions after an eagle ray gave birth to four pups, who are in excellent health according to the Aquarium.
Interestingly, eagle rays give birth to live young, and not eggs. Stingrays are ‘ovoviviparous,’ meaning that the mother keeps eggs inside her body after they hatch, feeding the pups fluids from special glands once their yolk sacs are depleted.
After eight months, the mother will birth fully developed young, when they have an increased chance of survival. The pups then have to be pretty adept swimmers when they enter the world, so after a few short minutes of disorientation, they figure out which way is up and are fairly agile soon after birth.
These critically endangered pups will spend some time at the aquariums ray pool in the diversity gallery before being released in the wild. Below is a video of the pup’s birth taken by the Two Oceans Aquarium curator, Nicholas Nicolle.
Pictures: Two Oceans Aquarium
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