The New England Aquarium welcomed four bluespotted maskray pups in January, the first time since 2017 any of the species had been born at the aquarium, officials said.
Born to two females, the rays have a “striking” appearance with “distinctive mask-like shading around their eyes and iridescent blue spots on their fins,” a statement from the aquarium said. The aquarium is keeping the pups away from public view for the time being, in an area intended to mimic the wild.
“These pups learn to adapt to their environment quickly,” Supervisor of Interactive Exhibits Sarah Tempesta said. “In the wild, they have to be able to swim, bury themselves, and evade predators from the very beginning of their lives.”
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The pups are part of the aquarium’s bluespotted maskray rearing program, which launched in 2014, the statement said. The program is part of a broader effort to protect ocean animals and habitats, in an attempt to sustainably repopulate exhibits without disrupting populations in the wild.
Bluespotted maskrays are native to the Southwest Pacific, the statement said, and considered “data deficient,” meaning there is not enough data to determine if it is endangered or threatened.
The four pups were born of careful planning, after the two females were paired with a male in the spring of 2020.
It will be 12 to 18 months until the rays join the touch tanks at the aquarium, as rearing them proves to be a demanding task for staff due to their dietary needs, officials said.
“Once they go into the touch tank, these animals will be able to inspire visitors to help us protect the blue planet and become ocean stewards,” Tempesta, who manages the ray rearing program at the aquarium, said.
Charlie McKenna can be reached at charlie.mckenna@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @charliemckenna9.
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