Stingray in the Dominican Republic

Common Name: Stingrays
Family: Dasyatididae

Stingrays are carnivores, feeding off the ocean floor on molluscs, crustaceans and even small fish. When not feeding, stingrays usually lie motionless on, or under the sand.  Like sharks, stingray skeletons are made up of cartilage not bone. Their blood is copper based the same as sharks so during a night dive their eyes glow up green in your torch light.  At the end of the long stingray tail is one or more venomous spines or barbs, which can inflict a serious and very painful wound. Stingrays only use this barb in self defence when trapped or stood on, they will not chase down and attack humans.  A stingray's mouth is on the underside but, like sharks, the eyes are on the top.  Stingrays use their pectoral fins like wings, to 'fly" through the water.

Stingray Injuries: An attack may produce severe penetrating injuries and/or subsequent infection, including tetanus. Envenomation may result in increasing local pain which may spread to involve the entire limb, with swelling and a characteristic bluish white appearance of the wound.  Systemic symptoms are rare, but may include nausea and vomiting, muscle cramps, diarrhea, salivation, sweating, cardiac arrhythmias and convulsions.

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