Most ray-related injuries occur when people step on a hidden ray, and the animal tries to protect itself. Stings are quite painful and can be followed by other symptoms such as vomiting, sweating, and increa sed heart rate. Although death from ray stings is rare, it has been reported. Experienced swimmers in shallow water know to shuffle their feet along sandy bottoms to find rays before stepping on them. It is easy to tell a male ray from a female.
Males have two hollow tube shaped organs called claspers at the base of their pelvic fins.
Claspers transfer sperm to the female to fertilize her eggs. When mating, male rays get a firm grip on females by bi ting the front of their pectoral fins long enough to mate. Female rays carry fertilized eggs inside their bodies. The developing young are nourished by a yolk sac and by a milky liquid given off by the mother. The young are born as free-swimming miniature versions of their parents and must fend for themselves.