Cownose stingray

The cownose ray is a brown, kite-shaped ray with a long, whip-like tail. It is a highly migratory species along the Atlantic Coast that visits the shallow waters of the Chesapeake Bay in summer each year to give birth and mate.

Stingrays are known for their expansive migrations – the cownose ray population in the Gulf of Mexico completes the journey from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula to western Florida each year in schools (or ‘fevers’) of as many as 10,000 rays! When you migrate to Shedd, stop by Stingray Touch and experience these magnificent, tactile creatures for yourself.

Named for the shape of its head, which when observed from above resembles a cow’s nose, the cownose ray is a moderately sized stingray native to the western Atlantic Ocean. Like all eagle rays, cownose rays are active swimmers and are rarely found lying motionless on the seafloor like the closely related whiptail stingrays (e.g., ... Read more

Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, FL has a stingray petting zoo. The barbs are removed from the rays so that people don't get injured when the rays swim up to you to be petted (the barbs grow back in, so they must be removed periodically). The cownose is a common ray, not very big, with eyes set wide apart. It has teeth that it uses to crunch shellfish. Baby cownoses are born live, exiting tail first. When the animals reach adult size, they are released into the wild.

Take a journey of discovery through the world’s largest ocean at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.