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- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear, first round of subawards totaling more than $1.4M supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.
  
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- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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Atlantic stingray

Dasyatis sabina

Information and species illustrations courtesy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Species Information
Size Maximum size 61 cm disc length (about equal to disc width).
Diagnostic characters Preorbital length greater than distance between spiracles; pelvic fins projecting beyond posterior margin of disc by about 1/3 of their length
Habitat, biology, and fisheries Females mature at 16 to 18 cm disc width, and neonates10 cm disc width at birth. Benthic in coastal waters from shoreline to about 20 m, also in estuaries and fresh water. Food consists of polychaetes, crustaceans, and ray-finned fishes. Litters range from 1 to 3 young. Upper surface brown to yellowish brown, sometimes with darker stripe along midline; ventrally whitish occasionally with darker disc outline.
Distribution Recorded from Chesapeake Bay to Florida Keys, throughout Gulf of Mexico. Records from northern South America and Brazil questionable.
Citations Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes, and chimaeras. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1-600. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 2: Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 601-1374. Carpenter, K.E. (ed) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. Rome, FAO. 2002. pp. 1375-2127.