Swimmers in the Eilat Bay encountered a rare visitor this week – a three-meter (10-foot) whitespotted wedgefish.
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Although it looks like a shark, the whitespotted wedgefish belongs to the Rhinidae, or ray, family. It is found from shallow waters to a depth of at least 60 meters (200 feet) in the Indo-Pacific, roaming the ocean from the East African coast and the Red Sea, to Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia.
Named for its shovel-like shape, whitespotted wedgefish are greyish or brownish in color with a sparse covering of white and a black spot above each pectoral fin.
Like other species in this class, wedgefish are bottom dwellers and feeds on benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, and other small bottom-dwelling fish.
Wedgefish are often caught as bycatch due to their susceptibility to different types of fishing gear, but they are also targeted in commercial fisheries because their fins are considered highly valuable.
The combination of the species' susceptibility and value as bycatch has seen its population drop by a staggering 80% in recent years. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species has classified it as an endangered species.
"This is the eights sighting of its kind to date and we hope to see many more," Adi Barash, head of Sharks in Israel, an NGO dedicated to protecting sharks and rays, told Israel Hayom.
"To protect these wonderful creatures we need information, so we collect data on sightings of sharks and rays from all over the country. If we learn where they are and when, we will understand where it is important to protect them."
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