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Shoreline Gallery

Make a new friend and reach out to a ray as they glide through the lagoon.

What Will You Discover?

Step up to the shallows of Ray Bay for a chance to observe, interact with, and gently touch four species of stingrays. While you're here, learn all about tidepools and axolotls, too!

Cownose Ray

The cownose ray is a pelagic and gregarious species that forms large schools with thousands of members. It is thought that the cownose ray’s high predation of oyster beds in areas like the Chesapeake Bay could further complicate the problem of declining oyster populations.

Conservation Status

Vulnerable

Diet

Mollusks, crustaceans, fish

Range

Eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico

Did You Know?

Cownose rays have a venomous barb at the base of their tails. Captain John Smith learned this the hard way when in 1608 he was stung so severely his crew thought he was going to die. The site on the Rappahannock River where he was stung is still known today as “Stingray Point.”

Southern Stingray

Found on reef-adjacent sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, and lagoons, the southern stingray is typically buried in the sand during the day, preferring to forage at night. While buried, this ray uses holes behind the eyes called spiracles to draw in clean water above the sand and pump it across the gills on the underside of the body.

Conservation Status

Near Threatened

Diet

Mollusks, worms, crustaceans, fish

Range

Western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea

Did You Know?

Southern stingrays will use special electroreceptive pores called ampullae of Lorenzini to locate buried prey items by sensing the faint electric fields emitted by living things. Once buried prey is identified, the ray will use jets of water from their mouth and a digging motion with their wings to excavate and consume its prey.

Roughtail Stingray

The roughtail stingray is a coastal species that can often be found resting over soft substrate like sand or mud for long periods each day. When hunting, this ray will excavate large depressions in the sand by flapping its body to expose buried fish or invertebrates.

Conservation Status

Vulnerable

Diet

Fish, crustaceans, mollusks

Range

Western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico

Did You Know?

One of the largest and deepest diving stingrays, the roughtail stingray has been recorded at a weight of 660 pounds and a maximum depth of 900 feet! Adults have rows of sharp thorns along their back, especially focused around and on their tail, though these thorns are absent in juveniles.

Spotted Eagle Ray

The spotted eagle ray is easy to identify with its spotted dorsal surface and whip-like tail. Usually found in bays and near coral reefs, this ray will use its shovel-shaped snout and duck-like bill to search in the sand for invertebrates. When a prey item is found, the ray crushes it with plate-like teeth.

Conservation Status

Endangered

Range

Atlantic Ocean

Diet

Mollusks, worms, crustaceans, fish, snails

Did You Know?

Once thought to be a single species found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters, recent research suggests that the spotted eagle ray is actually three to four distinct species based on geographic location, morphology, genetic analysis, and other factors.

Forbes Sea Star

The forbes sea star is found in the intertidal zone of rocky shores, where it forages for bivalve mollusks. By sensing the chemical signature, or scent, of nearby mollusks, the sea star can quickly find its prey and force open their shells with its strong arms and tube feet.

Diet

Mollusks

Size

Up to 6 inches

Range

Western Atlantic Ocean

Did You Know?

Sea stars move via their water vascular system by changing the water pressure and moving their tube feet. The long, slender tube feet are hollow and full of water. Each tube foot is connected to its own tiny sac called an ampulla that sits inside the body of the sea star; this structure looks and acts similar to a turkey baster. When the sea star squeezes the ampulla, it extends the tube foot in the direction it wants to go. Then, muscles that run along the length of the tube contract, squeezing water back into the ampulla and shortening the tube foot. All those tiny tube feet contracting is what drags the sea star along.

Common Sea Star

The most abundant sea star in the North Atlantic Ocean, common sea stars live in depths ranging from the intertidal zone to 650 feet deep. Typically found on rocks, sand, mud flats, and in beds of mussels.

Size

Up to 20 inches

Diet

Mollusks, crustaceans, worms, carrion

Range

Northeastern and Western Atlantic Ocean

Did You Know?

Sea stars have neither jaws or teeth; instead, they expel their own stomach and gastric juices onto their prey and wait until their prey is externally digested into a soft mass before retracting their stomach.

Common Periwinkle

The common periwinkle is mainly found on rocky shores in the intertidal zone, though it sometimes lives in small tide pools and muddy habitats such as estuaries. Since it arrived in North America around 1840, this snail has become the most abundant shallow-water herbivorous snail from Nova Scotia to Long Island Sound. It is reported to have displaced some native snails and has greatly altered New England intertidal communities by allowing slower-growing algae to dominate over the faster-growing algal species it prefers.

Diet

Algae

Size

Up to 2 inches

Range

Northeast Atlantic Ocean; invasive in Northwestern Atlantic

Did You Know?

Archaeological evidence shows that the common periwinkle has been an important food source for humans on the European Continent for thousands of years. In Scotland, periwinkles have been consumed by humans since at least 7500 B.C.E and are still a staple food and export to this day!

Common Blue Mussel

The common blue mussel is found in intertidal or shallow water beds on rocky shores, where they remain permanently attached, often in dense masses. They spawn from April to September, depending on water temperature, currents, and other environmental factors. Sexes are separate, and gametes are shed into the water where fertilization occurs.

Diet

Plankton

Size

Up to 8 inches

Range

North Atlantic Ocean

Did You Know?

Mussels attach to solid surfaces by creating an anchor made from byssal threads. These threads are remarkably strong and complex, neither degraded nor deformed by water as many synthetic adhesives are. This has spurred many research scientists to synthetically produce the incredible adhesive substance that mussels can create.

Axolotl

The word "axolotl" originates from the ancient Aztec language, translated to mean "water-dog", these endearing aquatic salamanders are characterized by three pairs of external gill stalks behind their head used to uptake oxygen from the water.

Conservation Status

Critically Endangered

Range

Lakes of Mexican Central Valley

Diet

Mollusks, fish, crustaceans, insects

Did You Know?

The enigmatic axolotl is an odd conservation story, as they are nearly extinct in the wild due to habitat destruction, and yet there may be a million or more in captivity, many of which are used in developmental research. Nearly all modern day captive axolotls can be traced back to just a handful of animals shipped from Mexico to France in 1864.

Shoreline Gallery

What Will You Discover?

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What's Inside

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