### animal | vertebrate | fish | ray:

Stingray
* Many stingrays cover themselves with sand, becoming nearly invisible.
* Many stingrays have a poisonous barb in their tail
  - sharp, venomous spines along their whip-like tail
* Most stingrays adapt to environments.
* Most stingrays eat fish
  - shrimp
  - small fish
  - enter water
  - has-part teeth
* Most stingrays have buoyancy
  - capability
  - fins
  - jaws
  - mouths
  - one or more barbed stings on the tail, which is used 'only' for self-defense
  - senses
  - shapes
  - small mouths
* Most stingrays have strong jaws
  - inhabit tropical water
  - live at or near the bottom of the water , but some are pelagic
* Most stingrays reach maturity
  - sexual maturity
* Some stingrays conceal themselves on a sandy bottom.
* Some stingrays have disks
  - problems
  - types
  - whips
  - live in zones.
  * Most stingrays have one or more barbed stings on the tail, which is used 'only' for self-defense. The sting is covered with a thin layer of skin, the sheath, in which the venom is held. A few members of the suborder, such as the manta rays and the porcupine ray, do not have stings. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds.
  * are common in coastal tropical and subtropical marine waters throughout the world. There are species in warm temperate oceans, and some found in the ocean. Some live in fresh water. Most stingrays live at or near the bottom of the water, but some are pelagic
* agitate the sand and hide beneath it.
* also frequent the shallows at night
  - lie in wait for unsuspecting prey
* are a favored prey of the great hammerhead
  - group of rays , which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks
  - specialized group of rays equipped with an elongated, thin, whiplike tail
  - type of fish that are often found in the sand in shallow water near the shore
  - another type of cartilaginous fish which exists in the shallow waters of the reef
* are bottom feeders and scavenge the substratum for small animals
  - broad, flat fish
* are considered by most experts to be docile creatures, only attacking in self-defense
  - to be vertebrates, as they are classified as cartilaginous fish
  - edible and they are consumed by a wide variety of cultures
  - edible, the main part being the wings
  - found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans
  - friendly
* are generally peaceful bottom feeders
  - very solitary creatures
  - inactive for the vast majority of time
  - large cartilaginous fish found in warm coastal waters
  - mainly marine creature
  - members of the group of fish that also includes sharks and skates
  - ocean floor prowlers
  - ovoviviparous, bearing live young in 'litters' of five to thirteen
  - rays have spines on their tail which can poison other animals when stung
* are the dangerous ones
  - most common group of fish that sting humans
  - usually difficult to detect because they are partially buried in the sediment
  - venomous animals
  - very, very gentle creatures
* bear live young.
* belong to a sub-class known as the elasmobranchs.
* deliver their venom using a barbed spine located at the base of their tail.
* feed mostly on molluscs, crustaceans, and occasionally on small fish.
* fertilize internally via sexual intercourse.
* fill important ecological roles in the freshwater and marine locales they inhabit.
* give birth to fully developed, live young.
* have a barbed spine on their long tails that can cause painful and dangerous stings
  - flat round shape thanks to the large fins that run the length of their bodies
  - toxin filled spine at the base of their tail
  - barbed spines at the base of the tail
  - chances
  - many features
  - more benefits than being used for human consumption
  - multiple rows of rounded teeth that have flat, blunt surfaces
  - strong, heavy cartilage dental plates with which they crush their food
  - very tough, leathery skin
* hide in the soft mud and feed on mollusks and crustaceans.
* includes brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - ears
  - fish scales
  - fishbones
  - flippers
  - heads
  - nuclei
  - pedal extremities
  - plasma membranes
  - rib cages
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sperm
  - sterna
  - tail fins
  - vacuoles
  - vertebrate feet
  - yolks
* inhabit shallow water, especially in the tropics and in temperate regions as well
* inject a toxin that breaks down with heat.
* is soft and shakable.
* lack the swim bladder and oil-filled liver that make fish buoyant.
* live in sandy marine environments
  - on the sandy or muddy bottoms of all warm, shallow parts of the oceans and bays
* lives mostly in sea water.
* love the ocean floor.
* need food.
* often dig into sediments in search of food leaving crater-like depressions
  - feed on the bottom, leaving only their eyes and tails visible
* possess venom-producing barbs on their tail tips.
* reflect the shades of color on the seafloor, so they can blend in better.
* reside in the sands around the vessel along with turtles and garden eels.
* settle on the bottom while feeding , often leaving only their eyes and tail visible.
* show how to maneuver with grace, style and elegance in the watery depths of emotions.
* spend much of their time camouflaged in the sand like the one pictured here.
* swim by moving their pectoral fins up and down.
* take their name from the barbed spines at the base of their long, whiplike tail.
* teach the art of camouflage and blending in.
* use camouflage to protect themselves from predatory sharks and larger rays
  - one or more large spines or stings on their tails as defensive weapons
  - their tails to defend themselves against sharks and other predators
+ Stingray, Lifestyle, Reproduction
  * Stingrays are ovoviviparous, bearing live young in 'litters' of five to thirteen. The female holds the embryos in the womb without a placenta
  - Lifestyle: Rays
  * The flattened bodies of stingrays allow them to hide themselves. Stingrays agitate the sand and hide beneath it. Because their eyes are on top of their bodies and their mouths on the undersides, stingrays cannot see their prey.
  * Stingrays feed mostly on molluscs, crustaceans, and occasionally on small fish. Some stingrays' mouths contain two powerful, shell-crushing plates, while other species only have sucking mouthparts