What is Stingray?
{{Taxobox |name=Stingrays | image = Dasyatis americana bonaire.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Southern stingray, ''Dasyatis americana'' | fossil_range = | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Chondrichthyes]] | subclassis = [[Elasmobranchii]] | ordo = [[Myliobatiformes]] | subordo ='''Myliobatoidei''' | subdivision_ranks = Genera }} [[File:Blue spotted stingray.jpg|thumb|Blue Spotted Ray]] The '''stingrays''' are a large suborder of the [[batoidea|rays]]. They are [[cartilaginous fish]] related to [[shark]]s. They are in the suborder '''Myliobatoidei''' of the order [[Myliobatiformes]], which consists of nine families.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gross|first=Miriam J.|title=The Stingray|url=https://archive.org/details/stingray0000gros|publisher=Powerkids Press|location=New York|date=2006|isbn=9781404231900}}</ref> Most stingrays have one or more barbed stings on the tail, which is used ''only'' for [[self-defence]]. The sting may reach about 35&nbsp;cm, and its underside has two grooves with [[Venom (poison)|venom]] [[gland]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.fishchannel.com/media/fish-magazines/aquarium-fish-international/july-2008/venom2.aspx.pdf | title = Dangerous and Venomous Aquarium Fish | author = Ternay, A. | website = fishchannel.com | access-date = 2011-09-15 | archive-date = 2014-07-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140722215257/http://www.fishchannel.com/media/fish-magazines/aquarium-fish-international/july-2008/venom2.aspx.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> The sting is covered with a thin layer of skin, the sheath, in which the venom is held.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1580/1080-6032(1997)008[0024:SI]2.3.CO;2 | author = Meyer, P. | title = Stingray injuries | journal = Wilderness Environ Med | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 24–8 | year = 1997 | pmid = 11990133| s2cid = 260140923 }}</ref> A few members of the suborder, such as the [[manta ray]]s and the [[porcupine ray]], do not have stings.<ref name=FB>Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Paul