ama_and_aj's Favorites

A huge beautifully colored ray that appeared extremely wide and curvy with a tiny indistinct tail. The ray was caught by an angler along the inlet. The ray was foul hooked on a buck-tail. It was about 6-8 ft wide. Leopard esque skin color and pattern. Not sure if it was spiny or smooth butterfly.

Observed and photographed by my colleague Mike Morrison. A rare find usually associated with deep water in the tropics. This specimen was 3 m in length, 300 mm from spine to belly and 75-100mm thick and was estimated to weigh around 50 kg.