Skates

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The top picture shows a fish that resembles a ray. In fact the fish is a skate, a related group of marine vertebrate.

Skates get placed into the Rajidae family, a large family of flat, boney fish with close to one hundred and fifty different species.

A few physical and habitat differences separate rays and skates.

First, all skates are marine animals, while different ray species live in both fresh water and salt water environments.

Skates bear their young from eggs, while rays bear live young.

Also, while both fish have long tails, skates do not have venomous barbs or stingers on their tail like some ray species.