First successful stingray hatching in Greece – The “journey” from the aquarium to the sea – See video

A tiny egg, lone 6 centimeters long, developed into a 10.5-centimeter stingray and was released into its earthy habitat, wherever it tin turn up to 80 centimeters. Nearly fractional of the stingray taxon successful Greece are astatine hazard of extinction.

A tiny stingray, hatched successful an aquarium successful Thessaloniki for the archetypal clip successful Greece, has been released into the sea, marking an important measurement for the “ex situ” (off-site) conservation of threatened taxon successful the country.

Specifically, this effort, which represents lone the 2nd recorded hatch of the communal stingray (Raja clavata), a susceptible species, successful a controlled situation crossed the Mediterranean, took spot arsenic portion of the Thermaikos Biodiversity Project, implemented by the biology enactment iSea successful collaboration with the Sani/Ikos Group.

How Stingray Eggs Are Hatched

According to Greece’s Red List of Threatened Species, astir fractional of the stingray taxon successful the state look extinction, with the top menace being accidental seizure successful sportfishing gear. Their ovum cases (ovaries) often extremity up successful fishermen’s nets, leaving nary accidental of endurance for the embryos.

To code this challenge, implicit the past 2 years, fishermen from Halkidiki and the Thracian Sea person intimately collaborated with the program.

Specifically, stingray ovum cases caught successful their nets are cautiously collected and handed implicit to iSea, which transports them to a specially designed aquarium astatine the Sani Resort, wherever edifice visitors tin observe them.

In controlled conditions, the embryos are fixed a 2nd accidental to hatch. A tiny 6-centimeter ovum grew into a 10.5-centimeter stingray, which was past released into its earthy habitat, wherever it tin scope up to 80 centimeters successful length.

This inaugural relied connected the expertise of the Spanish enactment Associació Lamna, a spouse of iSea, which has developed akin protocols for hatching eggs of threatened stingray taxon successful the Mediterranean.

According to the biology organization, the “journey” from the merchandise and handover of the ovum by the fisherman to iSea, to the merchandise of the newborn stingray into the sea, was a continuous process of research, uncovering the close conditions, and improving hatching protocols, which volition service arsenic a aviator for aboriginal programme actions.

The task is portion of the broader improvement of the Thermaikos Biodiversity Project, which began successful 2021 arsenic the Thermaikos Dolphin Project by iSea and the Sani/Ikos Group, aiming to show dolphin populations successful the country done photo-identification and taxon cataloging.

The programme has since expanded to see actions for the extortion of marine biodiversity, restoration of threatened stingray populations, and raising consciousness among section communities and visitors.