Benthic Stingrays

• Benthic stingrays are bottom feeders that dine mainly on shellfish. They have very strong jaws that allow them to crack open the shells. Benthics will also eat fish, but won't usually hunt for them--if the fish are nearby, they make a convenient meal for the stingray. Despite those jaws, these are very docile animals. They are not dangerous to humans unless swimmers or divers disrupt their environment by brushing against the ocean floor or stirring up the sand the stingrays hide under.
  
  

Pelagic Stingrays

• Swimmers, or pelagic stingrays, have a slighty different diet from benthics. They will also feed on plankton, and in fact, several species of swimmer stingrays use plankton as their main source of food. Even one of the largest types of stingrays, the manta, is a pelagic and feeds on plankton even though it is large enough to eat a human.
  
  

Feeding Stingrays

• Vacationers will sometimes feed stingrays in the Caribbean and other popular tourist locations. People will stand waist deep in the water and offer small pieces of fish or worms as the rays swim by. Stingrays are nocturnal feeders, but the animals that live in beaches where this feeding practice takes place sometimes turn into daytime feeders. They can also start to rely on humans for "snacks" but it has not been determined whether or not this is harmful to stingrays.
  
  

Smaller Meals

• Most types of stingrays will also trap and eat worms and squid. Stingrays have a sandy color to them. They can blend in perfectly with the ocean floor, and attack those types of prey fairly easily. Since the stingray's mouth is on the underside of its body, it is easy for the animals to "dig" up prey that may also be living on the bottom of the ocean.
  
  

Additional Information

• Stingrays rely on a keen sense of smell and electro-receptors to sense when food is near. They can't always count on eyesight because their eyes are on top of their bodies and the food may be below them. The exception is when stingrays are resting in sand. They will often keep their eyes above the sand along with their tails. That way they can see potential prey and quickly strike at it.