They are fairly uniformly brown in color, with lighter shading underneath. Rays are flat, with a disc-shaped body and no distinct head, with a snout, eyes on top of their head and a mouth underneath. Rays have wing-like pectoral fins, large and flat, that allow them to glide through the water gracefully. This wingspan can reach up to six feet. Length from snout to tail may be over seven feet.
Stingrays are a specialized group of rays equipped with an elongated, thin, whiplike tail.
Protruding from this tail, part way up from the base, is a sharp, bony stinger with a serrated edge that is used as a means of defense. The stinger is capable of inflicting painful cuts as well as delivering a poisonous blow with each strike. Stingrays are ocean floor prowlers. They usually eat bottom dwellers, such as crustaceans and mollusks. They like to hide underneath the sand with only their eyes, spiracle, and tail poking out, and will use their large pectoral fins to loosen and scoop food out of the sand.