One, different morphological characteristics

1, manta rays

General body flat, wider than long, the widest up to 8 meters, weighing 3000 kg. Body plate diamond-shaped, one head wide and flat; the end of the muzzle is wide and transverse flat; pectoral fins grow fat as wing-like, the head of the two pectoral fins before the head from the two prominent cephalic fins, located on both sides of the head; tail as slender as a whip, with a small dorsal fins, some species of tails with a poisonous spine or more.

Mouth broad, anterior or inferior; teeth fine and numerous, nearly pave-stone-like in arrangement; maxillary and mandibular bands of teeth, or maxillary edentulous; nostrils situated on both sides of the mouth just anterior to the mouth, and the spouting pores open at the corner of the mouth; spouting pores small, triangular, situated behind the eyes at a considerable distance from them; gill-openings broad; girdle y curved, with prolonged cusp at the middle. Ovipositor.

2. Rays

Rays have a rounded or rhombic body, with broad pectoral fins, which extend from the end of the muzzle to the root of the slender tail; some species have a pointed muzzle, and their bodies are flattened, with slender tails, and some species of rays have one or more venomous spines with serrated edges growing from their tails. The eyes and spouts of the skate are on the top of the head, on the bottom side of the mouth and nose, and are formed by the cartilage of the rostrum, which protrudes from the cranium.

The body is monochromatic or patterned, and most species have hard spines or spiny structures on the spine, and some have a power-generating organ with little power-generating capacity within the tail. To the best of our knowledge, all skates are oviparous, and their eggs, also known as "mermaid's purse," are found on beaches, are oblong, and are protected by a leathery shell. Rays vary in size: small rays adult body only 50cm; big rays can be as long as 2.5m.

3, Stingray

Stingray belongs to the classification of cartilaginous fishes in the suborder, the world **** there are six families and 158 species. In addition to the "deep water tail ray" family Taiwan does not have, the other five families in Taiwan. Including six pairs of gills, the muzzle long and transparent "six-gill stingray", four of the world's five species or Taiwan found.

The rest of the stingrays have five pairs of gills, among which the "Stingrays" family, the tail is long and slender without a caudal fin; the "Flat Stingray" family has a dorsal and caudal fins; the "Swallow Stingray" family has a particularly wide body plate and a very short tail; and the head is obviously bulging, and the tail is very short. The "flat ray" family has a dorsal and caudal fin; the "swallow ray" family has an unusually wide body plate and a short tail; and the "flat ray" family has a head that bulges significantly higher than the body plate, so that the eyes and spouting holes become long on both sides of the head, with the pectoral fins extending only as far as the back of the eyes, including the three major groups of the very large bats, bullfinches, and devil rays mentioned earlier.

Second, different habits

1, manta rays

Manta rays are a kind of cartilaginous fish living in the bottom of tropical and subtropical waters, locally known as the "underwater devil", but in fact, manta rays are a very gentle animal. They feed mainly on plankton and small fish, often cruising around coral reefs.

2. Rays

Rays are very similar to stingrays because they have flat bodies. Juvenile rays feed on animals that live on the sea floor such as crabs and lobsters. When they grow up, they mainly hunt mollusks such as squid.

When hunting, rays hunt mainly by smell. Rays use a special closed-mouth breathing method to try to avoid inhaling sediment while lying on the bottom of the sea. When the skate breathes, water is drawn in through a tube at the top of the head and finally out through the gill slits on the ventral surface.

3, stingray

Stingray activity is not strong, the depth of activity between 5 ~ 100 meters, often hide the body in the sand and mud, part of the species brightly colored body, mostly small fish and sand and mud crustaceans and benthic animals for food. Only a few species have food value, but the barbed end of the venomous spine makes it extremely difficult to remove, so fishermen cut off the venomous part of the tail of the fish after catching it.

Three, the distribution range is different

1, manta rays

Manta rays exist in three genera and 13 species, all over the North and South latitudes between 35 degrees of the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean waters. Four species can be found in the eastern and southern waters of China: the double-snouted manta rays, Japanese manta rays, Taiwan manta rays and stingless manta rays.

2. Rays

Distributed in most of the world's water areas, from the tropics to near-Arctic waters, and from shallow waters to deeper than 2.7 kilometers, they mainly live in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The Okinawa region of Japan is one of the most important colonies of rays, and the local government has made it a major tourist attraction, opening a special section of the aquarium there for close-up viewing.

3. Stingrays

Brazil, Peru, Colombia in the Amazon, Olino, Coe River and Uruguay, Paraguay River waters and most of the tanya rays, such rays in the natural environment in the tanya river in the bottom. Pearl rays, which have high ornamental value and are reasonably priced, are one of the more popular rays and are highly accepted by hobbyists.

Although they are also called pearl stingrays, due to the variability of their origins, crossbreeding between individuals, and the diversity of their patterns, each individual pearl stingray with the name Potamotrygon motoro has a different pattern and color.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Manta Rays

Baidu Encyclopedia - Rays

Baidu Encyclopedia - Stingrays

Baidu Encyclopedia - Rays