All Types of Stingrays

Order: Myliobatiformes

• Stingrays belong to the order myliobatiformes, which are related to sharks. This order includes a variety of families, such as plesiobatidae, which include the giant stingarees; hexatrygonidae, which includes the six-gill stingrays; urolophidae, which includes the stingarees; potamotrygonidae, the river stingrays; dasyatidae, the whiptail stingrays; gymnuridae, the butterfly rays; myliobatidae, the eagle rhinopteridae, the cownose rays; and mobulidae, the devil rays.

Benthic Stingrays

• Benthic stingrays are those that spend most of their time living and feeding near the ocean floor. They include the Atlantic stingray. Benthic stingrays can often be found buried just under the top layer of sand on the seafloor. They tend to feed on bottom feeding creatures, such as worms, shrimp, snails and crabs. Benthic stingrays are either rounded or diamond shaped.

Pelagic

• Pelagic stingrays are those that are more active swimmers than benthic rays. They still prey on bottom feeders but don't spend most of their time amid the sand. Pelagic stingrays include the large manta rays and the smaller devil rays. They tend to be more bat-like in shape.

Skates

• A type of stingray called a skate is a little different from the typical ray. Skates lay eggs as opposed to giving birth to live young, as do most rays. In addition, skates do not have a poisonous barbed tail although some rays, such as devil rays, also lack a poisonous tail.

Stingray Characteristics

• Stingrays move by undulating their bodies or by flapping their side flippers. Most stingrays live in saltwater though some, such as river stingrays, thrive in freshwater. Most of them have jaws and teeth capable of crushing mollusks and crab shells. And the colors of stingrays tend to mimic the colors of their surroundings.