Facts about Sea Rays

• Like sharks, rays are considered by marine biologists as fish.


• Rays are the most similar to a shark.


• Fish typically have bones, but rays do not have bones. Instead, the skeleton of a ray is made from cartilage, similar to your nose and ears.


• Many rays have unique ways of capturing prey and protecting themselves.


• The sawfish is a type of ray. It captures its prey by swimming through a school of fish, moving its saw-blade mouth from side to side. Its saw blades are actually razor-sharp teeth that kill some of the fish when they are struck.


• Torpedo rays are another ray with a unique ability. They can deliver an electric shock to their prey or to depend themselves against attacking predators.


• Water skates are also part of the ray family


• Manta rays grow up to 3000 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 20 feet. Their large size helps them defend themselves.


• Stingrays have the ability to deliver a poisonous sting when it is under attack. The stingray's stinger is a sharp bone located on its tail. A sting from a stingray can kill a human. It is so poisonous that, even after the stingray dies, touching the barb can kill you!


• There are over 100 types of stingrays in the world's oceans.


• There are also stingrays that live in freshwater (not saltwater). Most freshwater stingrays live in the Amazon River or other tributary rivers feeding the Amazon. They have a poisonous sharp bone stinger on their tail, just like saltwater stingrays.


• Stingrays are perfect for living on the bottom of the ocean. Their eyes are on the top of their head and their mouth and gills are on the bottom. They have a special gill hole behind each eye called the spiracle, which helps them breathe even when they bury themselves under the sand.


• Many aquariums have a stingray touch tank where people can touch the stingrays. Normally stingrays are very friendly, not scared of humans. The stingrays in special touch tanks have had their poisonous barbs removed from their tails to make them safe for people.