What is Ray?
{{Automatic Taxobox | name = Batoidea | image = Atlantic mobula lisbon.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = [[Devil fish]], ''Mobula mobular'' | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|250|0|Early Triassic-Recent|ref=<ref name=EoF>{{Citation |editor=Paxton, J.R. |editor2= Eschmeyer, W.N.|author1=Stevens, J. |author2=Last, P.R. |name-list-style=amp |year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|page= 60|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref>}} | taxon = Batoidea | subdivision_ranks = [[Order (biology)|Order]]s | subdivision = * [[Myliobatiformes]] * [[Rajiformes]] * [[Rhinopristiformes]] * [[Torpediniformes]] *{{Extinct}}[[Sclerorhynchiformes]] | synonyms = Batoidimorpha [[Myliobatoidea]] }} [[File:Spotted eagle ray.jpg|thumb|alt=This spotted eagle ray looks like a giant bird gracefully soaring through the ocean.|This spotted eagle ray is using its pectoral fins to ''fly'' through the water.]] The '''rays''', or '''batoids''', are a group of [[Chondrichthyes|cartilaginous fish]] containing more than 500 described [[species]] in thirteen [[family (biology)|families]]. They include four [[order (biology)|orders]]. Rays are mostly flattened in shape, and usually [[demersal]], living and eating at the bottom of the sea. The group first appears in the [[Triassic]] period, after 95% of [[Ocean|marine]] species had been wiped out by the [[P/Tr extinction event]]. == Taxonomy == * '''Batoidea''' ** [[Rajiformes]] *** [[Rajidae]]: the [[Skate (fish)|skate]]s, 200 species *** Rhinidae: the bowmouth guitarfish *** Rhinobatidae: the guitarfish *** Rhynchobatidae: the wedgefish ** Pristiformes: the [[sawfish]] ** Myelobatiformes: the [[stingray]]s ** Torpediniformes: the [[electric ray]]s == Description == === Appearance === Rays look like bats in the water, and this is probably why they are called batoids. They have pectoral [[fin]]s that are attached to their bodies from back to front, similar to the way a bat's wings attach from its shoulder to its feet. The fins of the ray create a disk sha