Myliobatiformes (), commonly known as stingrays, are one of the four

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

batoids Batomorphi is a division of cartilaginous fishes, commonly known as rays, this taxon is also known as the superorder Batoidea, but the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'' classifies it as the division Batomorphi. They and their close relati ...

cartilaginous fish Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyans, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fish'', which have skeleto ...

es related to sharks. They are members of the subclass elasmobranchs. They were formerly included in the order

Rajiformes Rajiformes is one of the four Order (biology), orders in the clade Batomorphi, often referred to as the superorder Batoidea, flattened cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. Rajiforms are distinguished by the presence of greatly enlarged pector ...

, but more recent

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies have shown the myliobatiformes to be a monophyletic group, and its more derived members evolved their highly flattened shapes independently of the skates.

Characteristics

Myliobatiformes share physical characteristics of a long, thin tail with serrated spines and a pancake-like body. They share many characteristics with the batoid order

, in which they were previously included. The key difference of the orders is the Myliobatiformes' single-lobed pelvic fin, lack of a mid-tail spine, and general lack of a dorsal fin. Myliobatiformes also possess stinging spines along the tail's base, and generally possess large pectoral fins that are completely fused (except Myliobatidae) to the head. They can camouflage from predators by using their flat, disk-shaped bodies to lie against the seafloor.

Classification

Myliobatiformes is classified as follows in ''

Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...

'': * Family Zanobatidae Fowler. 1934 (panrays) * Family Hexatrygonidae Heemstra & M. M. Smith, 1980 (sixgill stingrays) * Family Dasyatidae D. S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879 (whiptail stingrays) ** Subfamily Dasyatinae D. S. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879 (stingrays) ** Subfamily Neotrygoninae Castelnau, 1873 (shortsnout stingrays) ** Subfamily Urogymninae

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

, 1851 (whiprays) ** Subfamily Hypolophinae Stromer, 1910 (cowtail stingrays) * Family

Potamotrygonidae River stingrays or freshwater stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the family (biology), family Potamotrygonidae in the Order (biology), order Myliobatiformes, one of the four orders of Batoidea, batoids, cartilaginous fishes related to ...

Garman, 1877 (neotropical stingrays) ** Subfamily Styracurinae

Carvalho Carvalho (), meaning 'oak', is a Portuguese surname. Origin: Celtic toponymic, from ''(s)kerb(h)''/''karb'' (hard, twisted). The surname is most common in Portugal, Brazil, Galicia (although in Galicia it may be spelled ' Carvallo' or ' Car ...

, Loboda & da Silva 2016 (whiptail stingrays) ** Subfamily Potamotrygoninae Garman 1877 (river stingrays) * Family

Urotrygonidae Urotrygonidae is a family of rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly referred to as the American round stingrays or round rays. They are native to the tropical and warm temperate marine waters of the Americas. There are 20 recognized spec ...

McEachran, Dunn & Miyake, 1996 (American round stingrays) * Family Gymnuridae Fowler, 1934 (butterfly rays) * Family Plesiobatidae K. Nishida, 1990 (deepwater stingrays or giant stingarees) * Family

Urolophidae The Urolophidae are a family (biology), family of Batoidea, rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly known as stingarees or round stingrays. This family formerly included the genera ''Urobatis'' and ''Urotrygon'' of the Americas, which are pre ...

J. P. Müller & Henle 1841 (round stingrays or stingarees) * Family Aetobatidae

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1858 (pelagic eagle rays) * Family Myliobatidae Bonaparte 1835 (eagle rays) * Family Rhinopteridae D. S, Jordan & Evermann, 1896 (cownose rays) * Family Mobulidae

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

, 1893 (mantas or devil rays) The family Aetobatidae is recognised by some authorities. It contains the genus ''Aetobatus'', which is otherwise part of Myliobatinae. The families Myliobatidae and Rhombodontidae are sometimes grouped in their own superfamily, Myliobatoidea.

Cladogram

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q796580 Taxa named by Leonard Compagno