The Two Oceans Aquarium is sad to announce the death of the two resident short-tail stingrays, Scarlet and Sky, which died in quarantine after having been removed from the I&J Predator Exhibit for treatment last week.
At the beginning of November, aquarists detected external parasites on the rays. As it was proving difficult to successfully eradicate the parasites while the rays were in the exhibit, we decided to remove them from the display in order to treat them effectively.
The protocol treatment was applied: freshwater baths and dosing with Praziquantel, which is used specifically in the treatment of parasites. After the freshwater baths it was discovered that both animals were bleeding through the gills, which indicated that their gills were also heavily infected by parasites.
Aquarists closely monitored the animals during the night, but by the morning of Saturday 17 November both Scarlet and Sky were dead. An autopsy was conducted and no specific cause of death could be found to explain their deaths.
According to Two Oceans Aquarium Curator Michael Farquhar, “We did a thorough investigation of the events leading to this very upsetting outcome. Our staff followed all the correct procedures in terms of treatment and it appears that accumulated stress could have been the reason for the demise of the animals. The heavy parasite load and compromised immune system added to the stress of being removed from the display and undergoing a freshwater bath probably resulted in the death of the rays. We are very sad to have lost these two magnificent animals which we know were loved by our regular visitors.”
Scarlet and Sky were collected by our collections team in False Bay and introduced to the I&J Predator Exhibit in April this year.
Short-tail stingrays grow to a width of 2.1m and a total length of at least 4.3m, weighing in at an astonishing 350kgs. They are the largest stingrays on the South African coast, where they are found from False Bay to Maputo in Mozambique. They also occur in southern Australian and New Zealand waters.
