Ecology Summary - Hypanus americanus

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Main Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967
Remarks	Found on sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, lagoons and the reef face (Ref. 12951). Common in bays and estuaries (Ref. 7251). Observed singly, in pairs and in aggregations (Ref. 12951). Buries in the sand during the day and forages at night, usually in seagrass beds (Ref. 12951). Feeds mainly on bivalves and worms and also takes shrimps, crabs and small fishes (Ref. 3168). Omnivore (Ref. 57616). Feeds by creating depressions in the sand to expose invertebrates and small fishes (Ref. 9710). Equipped with a well-developed serrated spine and capable of inflicting a painful laceration. Easily approached by divers (Ref. 9710).

Main Ref.

Randall, J.E., 1967

Remarks

Found on sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, lagoons and the reef face (Ref. 12951). Common in bays and estuaries (Ref. 7251). Observed singly, in pairs and in aggregations (Ref. 12951). Buries in the sand during the day and forages at night, usually in seagrass beds (Ref. 12951). Feeds mainly on bivalves and worms and also takes shrimps, crabs and small fishes (Ref. 3168). Omnivore (Ref. 57616). Feeds by creating depressions in the sand to expose invertebrates and small fishes (Ref. 9710). Equipped with a well-developed serrated spine and capable of inflicting a painful laceration. Easily approached by divers (Ref. 9710).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Hypanus americanus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Soft Bottom: sand;
Substrate Ref.	Michael, S.W., 1993
Special habitats	Beds: sea grass;: lagoons;
Special habitats Ref.	Michael, S.W., 1993

Associations

Ref.	Michael, S.W., 1993
Associations	solitary; schooling;
Associated with	May be found in cleaning stations where they are attended to by the bluehead wrasse and Spanish hogfish (Ref. 12951).
Association remarks
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Randall, J.E., 1967
Feeding habit	variable
Feeding habit Ref.	Gómez-Canchong, P., L. Manjarrés M., L.O. Duarte and J. Altamar, 2004

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition	3.51		3.48	0.56	Troph of adults from 1 study.
From individual food items	3.72	0.65			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Bowman, R.E., C.E. Stillwell, W.L. Michaels and M.D. Grosslein, 2000

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