A day in
the life of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation: Once again
the researchers are stringing nets across the the Long Valley
finger of the Five Fingers and catching elasmobranchs as they
enter on the incoming tide – the full story on the PSRF
Elkhorn Slough project is here.
Included in today's catch was this fine thornback ray.
PSRF staff researcher May Ngyuen was kind enough to give us
a look at the underside.
One of the more photogenic species is the guitarfish, here displayed
by April Tenney.
Andy Irving brings in a freshly caught thornback...
...and holds it so that May can tag its caudal fin – that's
a tagging gun in her hand.
The researchers were especially intrigued by an anomalous thornback,
at left (as compared to a normal female at right) – you
can see quasi-claspers (a male sex organ) on its caudal fins
(note also the thin yellow tags on both fish). So far the researchers
have found only female thornbacks in the Long Valley finger.
PSRF Executive Director Sean Van Sommeran poses the anomalous
female to give us a look at the quasi-clasper in a dorsal view,
with a normal fin shown at right.
The day's catch was held in three pens, one of batrays...
...one of thornbacks...
...and a third of thornbacks plus that one guitarfish. Not a
bad haul.
