This article is about the family of marine fish. For other uses, see Stingray (disambiguation).
StingraysFossil range: Late Cretaceous–Recent
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Bluespotted stingray, Taeniura lymma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Chondrichthyes
Subclass:
Elasmobranchii
Order:
Rajiformes
Family:
Dasyatidae
Genera
DasyatisHimanturaPastinachusPteroplatytrygonTaeniuraUrogymnus
A stingray buried in the sand in Saba. Stingrays can be hard to see when they cover themselves with substrate.
Dasyatidae is a family of rays, cartilaginous marine fish, related to skates and sharks.
Dasyatids are common in tropical coastal waters throughout the world, and there are freshwater species in Asia (Himantura sp.), Africa, and Florida (Dasyatis sabina). The "typical" freshwaters rays in South America, while superficially similar to stingrays, are members of another family, Potamotrygonidae.
While most dasyatids are relatively widespread and unlikely to be threatened, there are several species (for example Taeniura meyeni, Dasyatis colarensis, D. garouaensis, and D. laosensis) where the conservation status is more problematic, leading to them being listed as vulnerable or endangered by IUCN. The status of several other species are poorly known, leading to them being listed as Data Deficient.
A group or collection of stingrays is commonly[citation needed] referred to as a "fever" of stingrays.
