alexa how many species of stingrays are there
stingrays are much more common than people think but most of them pose very very little threat sean powers university of south alabama perdido key florida it could just be a stick i tell myself while floating on the surface of the gulf of mexico about 100 feet out from the shoreline of perdido key Rays account for about half of all elasmobranch species. Of the 500 or more described ray species, there are over 150 stingray species that are assigned to approximately 20 genera. Freshwater stingrays of the family Potamotrygonidae are assigned to the genera Paratrygon, Plesiotrygon, Heliotrygon and Potamotrygon. stingrays in the gulf are more common than you think see the underwater footage stingrays off perdido key august 2014 perdido key florida underwater footage of several stingrays believed to be southern stingrays off the beach of perdido key fla from multiple snorkeling trips taken in august 2014 dennis pillion dpillion @ al com stingrays are diverse group of fish characterized by flattened bodies they can be found in oceans in tropical and subtropical areas around the world a href http www softschools com facts animals stingray facts 41 stingray facts a the reef manta ray the smaller of the two species tends to stay longer in specific sites and can be distinguished by the white color in its mouth it dives to 400 meters deep but usually is more coastal than the giant manta ray there are two similar looking species of stingray that powers said are responsible for most incidents of human stings the southern stingray and the atlantic stingray both are bottom dwellers who tend to bury themselves in the sand or move slowly along the floor it is the largest species of the two and reaches dimensions of up to 9 meters wide it is physically very similar to the reef manta ray but is distinguished by having a dark color around the mouth it usually swims away from the coast and near the water surface but it also gets close to reefs largest stingrays can reach 6 5 feet in length and weigh up to 790 pounds stingrays are close relatives of shark a href http www softschools com facts animals stingray facts 41 stingray facts a manta rays are distinctive flattened body fish closely related to sharks many people believe that manta rays are any round and flat animal but the truth is that this is not so there are only two species of fish that receive the name of manta ray and belong to the genus manta being considered the biggest members of the ray family these are the reef manta manta alfredi and the giant manta ray manta birostris animals that exceed 3 meters wide and have the largest brains of all fish they share subclass elasmobranchii with sharks and chimaeras rays account for about half of all elasmobranch species of the 500 or more described ray species there are over 150 stingray species that are assigned to approximately 20 genera freshwater stingrays of the family potamotrygonidae are assigned to the genera paratrygon plesiotrygon heliotrygon and potamotrygon to date as many as 20 described species are assigned to potamotrygon p hystrix is recognized as the type species
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