What are we researching today?
Are there Pancake Stingrays in Lake Michigan?
First, lets learn a little bit about Pancake Stingrays
What are Pancake Stingrays?
The Pancake Stingray is indigenous to the Amazon Rain forest in Brazil.
Two new species of freshwater stingray have been discovered in the Amazon rain forest. They both look like pancakes with noses, as images of the species show. The two "pancake" species belong to the first new stingray genus found in the Amazon region in more than two decades, according to Nathan Lovejoy, a biologist at the University of Toronto in Scarborough, and Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho of the University of São Paolo in Brazil. (Livescience) |
Where do pancake stingrays live?
These species that have tiny eyes and live in murky waters of the central channel areas of Amazonian rivers, coming closer to shore mostly at night to feed. (The Guardian)
What do pancake stingrays eat?
Stingrays are purely carnivorous and eat fish that are smaller in size than them. They usually eat, snails, clams, and squids besides other small sea creatures. (A to Z Animals: Stingrays)
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But what about stingrays in Michigan?
Check out these first hand accounts!
"Me and my brother have seen a dead sting ray at Lake Michigan right by the shed Aquarium in Chicago at the bottom of some docks between boats about 10ft the water was super clear that day this was around 2017" (Christain P- Answers.com)
The other day I was talking to my neighbor whom I've known for many years. He had a big boat and fished Lake Superior and Lake Michigan alot. He told me last yr. he was out with five other guys on the lake trolling along when they spotted something black in the water right in their path. As they got closer they were concerned that the peice off plastic or what ever it was was going to tangle with their lines. As the boat reach the black object it dove under the boat. All five guys saw it and could'nt beleive their eyes,it was a stingray! They got a few not so good pictures of it and called the DNR the next day. They told him it was possible but not probable. He told me if he would have been by himself he wouldn't have told a soul. What do you think? (Fishing Minnesota)
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Is there even stingray food in Lake Michigan?
Lake Michigan is FULL of all sorts of fish that stingray might eat. Some of the fish that are native to Lake Michigan are:
Chinook Salmon Coho Salmon Steelhead Lake Trout Brown Trout Brook Trout Bullheads Large Mouth Bass Northern Pike Lake Sturgeon Yellow Perch (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) |
Did you know there are also jellyfish in Lake Michigan? The first time jellyfish were documented in Michigan was in 1933 from the Huron River. Today, they can be found in most Michigan lakes and streams, and are usually spotted in the late summer and early fall. (WXYZ Detroit)
So what do you think? Are there pancake stingrays in Lake Michigan?