Stingray

Stingrays can be found in oceans in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. They like warm and shallow water.

These are cartilaginous fish. This means that they are a type of fish as their skeleton is made of cartilage which is a substance that is strong but is more bendable than bones. They move with pectoral fins which imitates the motions of bird wings.

The stingray settles on the ground and moves its fins up and down covering itself with sand so that it is not visible to prey and predators. They have a defense against predators. This is the barb located on the tail. If the barb hits the predator, the predator will get infected with venom. They have powerful jaws that can crush through the shell of the prey.

An interesting fact about the Stingrays is that they are ancient species that existed at the time of the Jurassic period. Stingrays are ovoviviparous, which means that their young ones hatch from eggs that are held within the body.

The eyes of a stingray do not play an important role in hunting prey and depend on other senses for hunting.  Special gel-filled pits across the front of their face called Ampullae of Lorenzini,  allow them to pick up electrical signals from other animals when they move.The biggest stingray weighs about 800 pounds or about 363 kg which is about the weight of 10 baby rhinos.

Sadly the number of stingrays is declining. Overfishing, habitat loss and climate change are the major threats to rays.