Birth of specimens of Dasyatis americana (Hildebrand and Schroeder, 1928) in captive environment in Acqua Mundo Aquarium. Guarujá-SP Gustavo de Andrade Zanoni, Rafael Silva Santos

Abstract

Many aquariums in the world elasmobranchs in captivity have been used as an important tool for education and research on the biology of the specie. Thus, the description of behaviors in captive environment serves as an aid for future research on this taxonomic subclass. This study aimed to report the birth records of the nail ray (Dasyatis americana), demonstrating how the management can be used in captivity. Specimens of the Acqua Mundo aquarium in Guaruja-SP were observed for 33 months living in three different sites. The results showed that the management methods used were efficient, proven by surviving larvae until the end of the study. Captive breeding provides new research, reduces the removal of wild species of nature, revealing the consequent benefit of keeping animals in captivity.