There are many species of rays living today. Our oceans host thousands of species of fish but not many are rays. There is officially 3 kinds of rays: Sting Rays, Manta Rays and Eagle Rays. Sting Rays are a shy species known because if something goes near them, they usually react by swinging with their poison tiped stinger and defend themselves and hopefully hit the attacker. Manta Rays are usually calm when a fish, human etc swim by unless they feel threatened and will sometimes try to swim away. Eagle Rays live usually in the open ocean and not close to reefs unlike its counterparts. Eagle Rays eat mollusks and crustaceans rather than being a filter-feeder like the Manta Ray and the Sting Ray. Manta Rays are usually calm sea creatures and don't attack or flee only if they feel threatned by the presence of its enemies.
Facts
The Spotted Eagle Rays are found around the globe in tropical waters around the Gulf of Mexico, the Indian Ocean, around Hawaii and the Atlantic side of Africa. They are found commonly in shallower waters at a max of around 80 meters (262 ft). Most of the time, Spotted Eagle Rays are found in reefs or bays. They are also found in other tropical regions as well as temperate waters. The Spotted Ray feeds on shrimp, mollusks, shrimp, octopi, and rather small fish. The average mature ray can have a length of 5 meters (16 ft) and a wingspan of 3 meters (10 ft). They would weigh in at 500 pounds (227 kilograms).
The Giant Oceanic Manta Ray is the largest known ray in the world. The largest record of ones wingspan was 7.6 meters across (25 ft) and weighed in at 2400 kilograms (5300 lb.) They are mostly found in tropical or subtropical waters. They tend to live in open waters and only reach reefs or shallow waters for looking for food. Not much is known about this amazing creature. Their diet is mainly consisted of small fish, shrimp and krill. Sometimes, Mantas have Remora grip onto them with a special organ under the Remora. This aspect helps the Remora avoid danger while they are on a big predator or a gentle giant like the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray.
The Reef Manta Ray is the second largest species of Manta known today only surpassed by the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray. It tends to live in shallower tropical and subtropical waters than the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray. it is usually 3-3.5 m wide (9.8-11.5 feet) and tends to be about 5 meters long (16 feet). Just like the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray, not very much is still known about some species of Manta Rays.
