Emory Meyer
English / Science
November 5, 2015
The Smooth Butterfly Ray
Gymnura micrura
Gymnura micrura more commonly know as the Smooth butterfly ray, is found in marine or brackish water at depths up to 40m deep normally in soft sand or mud. They are smooth and are a diamond shape. They have a short tail and lack a dorsal spine. Their dorsal surface or the ray is usually brown or gray, but occasionally has some green. Their ventral side is white. An interesting fact about this organism is that their wingspan can grow up to 4.5 feet! Their prey includes: crabs, shrimp, various invertebrates, small fish, prawns, and bivalves. They are ectothermic, meaning they are cold-blooded, they have bilateral symmetry, and they are heterotrophic, meaning they get energy from other organisms by eating autotrophs or other heterotrophs. Three adaptations that the Smooth butterfly ray has include: one behavioral: they migrate to temperate waters during the warmer season, a functional: they have venemus spines on their tails for self-defense, and one structural: the color of the ray sometimes allows the ray to camouflage with its environment.
Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Rajiformes
Genus: Gymnuridae
Species: micrura
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