Dallas World Aquarium
By: Kennedye Ralph
Big Tooth River Stingray
Scientific Name: Potamotrygon henlei
Frog Spawn Coral
Scientific Name: Euphyllia divisa
Montezuma Quail
Scientific Name: Cyrtonyx montezumae
Period 4
Mrs. Gray
December 18, 2014
Presentation by Kennedye Ralph:
Habitat
Big Tooth River Stingray
The Big Tooth River Stingray is a bottom dwelling species. Nevertheless, they prefer mud bottoms. In addition, they're native to Brazil.
Frog Spawn Coral
The Frog Spawn Coral originated from the Indo-Pacific region. In addition to Australia, Southeast Asia, southern Japan islands and East China Sea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Palau. The Frog Spawn Coral is found on muddy substrates and reef slopes.
Montezuma Quail
The Montezuma Quail is habited by the oak-pine woodlands, adjacent grasslands, and open woodland areas. For example lands in Mexico and Arizona they inhabit.
Diet
Big Tooth River Stingray
The River Stingray has a selection of variety of available food from worms to insect larvae. Additionally, they like to eat krill, cocktail shrimp, clams, and live fish.
Frog Spawn Coral
The Frog Spawn Coral receives its nutrients from a marine algae, known as zooxanthellae. In addition, they capture planktonic organisms, food particles from the water column, and they are able to absorb dissolved organic matter.
Montezuma Quail
The Montezuma Quail forages for fruit in addition to ground-gleaning for seeds and insects. Also, acorns make up 40% of the Montezuma Quail's diet and eating habits.
Adaptation
Big Tooth River Stingray
One adaptation to to freshwater environments is that they have the ability to float on the surface when bottom water oxygen is poor.
Frog Spawn Coral
The Frog Spawn Coral adapts to the water turbulent. However, too much turbulent will prevent them from extending.
Montezuma Quail
The Montezuma Quail adapts to the space and weather that its enable to acquire.
Interesting Fact #1
Big Tooth River Stingray
A fact that I learned about the Big Tooth Stingray that I thought was very interesting was about the reproduction system. The reproduction process last between 3-12 months with 1-8 embryos in gestation at one time.
Frog Spawn Coral
The exterior slime coating can be a skin irritant or even highly toxic to human. Another fact that I learned was that the individual tentacles can elongate 2 to 3 times their normal state.
Montezuma Quail
Montezuma Quails are more evident when the summer rains begin. In addition, when not camouflaged, they blast off explosively in flight nevertheless scaring humans.
Interesting Fact #2
Big Tooth River Stingray
Bigtooth river stingrays are ovoviviparous, which means that instead of laying eggs like most fish do, the eggs hatch inside of the mother, and the young are born alive.
Frog Spawn Coral
An interesting fact is that the Frog Spawn Coral is very aggressive and needs at least 8 to 10 inches apart from each other for growth.
Montezuma Quail
Another interesting fact about the Montezuma Quail is in captivity, even with clipped wings, it can leap at least 2 m.
Status
Big Tooth River Stingray
The Big Tooth River Stingray is not year endangered. However, they face many threats that might have a concern with their numbers. For example, illegal mining and legal and illegal capture for the aquarium trade.
Frog Spawn Coral
Frog Spawn Coral are considered near threatened because of the population loss in addition to the habitat loss. For example, the degradation of a reef.
Montezuma Quail
The Montezuma Quail is least concern with endangerment and extinction because of the large range of population, characteristics, and location.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the field trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. However, with this project I was able to educationally experience a minor part of the activity. Nonetheless, if I went to the Aquarium I believe i would've enjoyed the many different species around me in addition to learning more and more about them.