He’s all: Weeeeeeeeee!
First of all, I’ve never seen a bebeh stingray. Second, who woulda thunk a bebeh stingray could be cute enough to meet our stringent requirements? Third, will you please look at these "legs" OMG.
Megan F. (not me!) took this at the Brighton, UK aquarium. Hilarious.
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is that his back or his front?
I luv this site, bleen of all, because it widens my horizons of kewtness!
How incredibly odd. It’s like a fat lizard wearing a kite!
I am all for it. like the pastels as well
llism, very very funny. Lizard wearing a kite.HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
i gasped when i saw his wittle face
First reaction: the body part looks like an embryo. I’m working on an embryology book at work, and most of the images have those exact colors, along with the relative amorphousness.
Second reaction: Uber cute.
That has got to be one of the weirdest cute things I have ever seen. Legs?!
[bugeyes]
…whoa.
I think somebody’s doing my RCFs for me!
omg!!!!!!
I can definately see evolution legs going on there.
I think I see arms too….
Wow!
I’ve never noticed “bodies” on stingrays before, but I’ve always liked their flat faces. :] Good pic!
Wow! This pic is cute AND educational!
Wow, it IS cute. The “legs,” the tail, the face and the flying action. The little bugger does look like it’s having fun.
So cute!
Laura, that’s his ventral surface. You can tell because you can see the mouth and gills. And I call it a him, because those “legs” are actually little claspers, which will be used for sperm transfer once it’s full grown.
And there’s your stingray anatomy lesson for the day!
that’s the bottom of the bebeh stingray, and the “legs” mean it’s a boy!! they’re called Claspers, and are used during mating.
such a cutie!!
It may be a boy but he looks sort of like he’s wearing a pink tutu with puffed sleeves.
Anybody else thinking Dr. Who?
Wat the?
Not kidding, there is an overlap of cuteoverload and uglyoverload… Did anyone see this article about the guitar fish that was captured, and the Russian fishermen thinking it was an alien from outerspace and who ate it anyway? Check this out… Same alien face…
http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/07-02-2007/87167-alien_monster-0
Son of a gun!
he looks like a fried egg. with pink yolks. i’m not sure how i feel about this. hahaha
this is the underside. The topside is brown or blackish.
they do like to cling onto smooth surfaces in aquaria.
also, the swimming motion of any ray is one of the most beautiful things ever…super-graceful wings rippling.
oh my gosh.
the legs are so freakishly human-like
this sort of pic gives me chills, but its so fantastic its fasinating!
eeeek! it’s wearing a little pink sundress!!!!
tooo cute!
I have fooled ALL of you. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! I glued a kite to a big fat gecko just to see if you suckers would think it’s cute. My evil plan has come to fruition!
eeeek! it’s wearing a little pink sundress!!!!
tooo cute!
I’m ded. Completely, totally, utterly DED.
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, peeple!!!
They’re so adorable when young…they take a full year to mature, but after a few weeks, look exactly like adult rays…only tiny. Like silver-dollar tiny. If anyone ever goes near Norwich and finds themselves at Hunstanton, I highly recommend the Sea Life Centre there…they have tanks of young stingrays.
wow this is so cutely weird!
http://www.happylolday.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trinlayk/
I got to PET little rays at the Milwaukee County Zoo, they & some pettable sharks will be there till September.
(I think this petting opporunity was here last summer too. VERY cool. They’re even SOFT.)
my first thought was “is this the bottom or the top”? I go to comments and first comment, same question. Finally someone translates (ventral =bottom) and now we know. Male, bottom side.
And yet it still looks like a frog in a pink swimsuit laying on a large yellow blanket to sunbathe. Perhaps I’m anthropomorphizing (sp?) too much. VERY CUTE regardless. And fascinating.
It’s cute if you pretend those are its eyes, but I’m pretty sure they’re its nostrils (or the sting ray equivalent thereof).
Haha little dewd looks like he’s all Whooopeeee!!!1!!111
“Hey, ma, look what I can do!”
I had no idea that that was what was going on underneath a stingray. It looks like a kite swallowed a newborn baby. Cute, though, in an outerspace sort of way.
(try again)
Core blimey, mate! The stuff of fairy tales, low budget sci-fi, cartoons and old sea captains. Great!
Oh my gosh, it looks almost exactly like Cassandra, the last living human, in the episode of Doctor Who, “The End of the World.” That is UNCANNY.
Aww.
I didn’t realise till now that other people had realised rays could be cute. I’ve seen them at Sea Life Centres, and you’re not allowed to touch them anymore, which makes me sad, but if you wave your hand over the tank they pop up out of the water! They really poke their snouts out of the water. Sort of like little aquatic puppies. And they wave their side-flaps ^_^
Irwin brand sun cream: protects against harmful rays. Oh, come on, I HAD to make that joke. It’s what Steve-O would want.
I will never look at steamed dumplings the same way.
I am not sure if I think it is cute or gross, lol.
Look ma, no hands!!
“Oh my gosh, it looks almost exactly like Cassandra, the last living human, in the episode of Doctor Who, “The End of the World.” That is UNCANNY.”
That’s exactly what I thought too! I saw those on the SciFi channel and now they’re running them on my PBS station.
(But David Tennant is the better doctor, IMHO.)
chelonianmobile – try Monterey Bay Aquarium! They have a Bat Ray touch pool. They’re very soft and gentle creatures.
… consider this for a new Pixar character!
They can call it “everybody loves stingray”
does no one else *suspect* that this was the inspiration for the teletubbies?
I think it’s kinda cute EXCEPT for the guts. I can’t do transparent bellies. XP
Disney should… I was just about to post that it could have been one of Nemo’s little school friends in Finding Nemo.
I saw oompa loompas before I saw Cassandra, but you’re right! (The little leg kicks during Oompa Loompa dances, right?)
Also, is PBS seriously running it? Brilliant! I must tell all my uninitiated friends!
Yay! More weird animals. Everyone knows kittens are cute, but so are other animals too.
Where are the daily baby bat posts?
Love that round Buddha-belly.
theres a new one…never seen that before
I know what it’s saying!
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/sounds/moisturise.mp3
I don’t get Pixar or Cassandra, (maybe before she got her chin sanded off) so much as a lost extra from “The Abyss” wondering where the trailers are.
I call dibs blowin’ razzberries on his wee belleh!!!!…on the monitor screen…he might have enough juice to jab me in the neck wit his schtinger! yipes! 8-0
“Help! I’m an alien in a Ziploc bag!”
This is adorable and frightening all at once…!
Little arms and legs all trapped up sort of fuh-reak me out!
How do U submit pics????
lol They can call it “everybody loves stingray”.. wonderful!
Cuh-reeeepy… I was at Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2003, and all the rays were piled on top of each other in the farthest corner, trying to get away from the people… totally sad.
Are you sure it wasn’t just feeding time joools? I’ve been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium approximately eleventy billion times (having grown up in the vicinity), the rays are always very “whatever” about the whole petting thing, not upset at all.
Karen! It totally does look like Cassandra! LOL. It’s definitely cute, in an alien baby sort of way.
omg – that is a fascinating pic. I’ve never seen a bebbeh one and I had no idea there were any vestiges of legs on these critters. Awesome pic – thanks for this one!
lol – I cant stop looking at it…
And reputable tanks will either have space for rays to get away if they dont want to be touched or take very frequent “no touch” breaks….
Don’t frequent them if this is not the case!
*back to staring*
The things that look like his eyes aren’t actually eyes, they are false eyes. Stingrays have eyes on the other side of their body. Because of this they can’t see their food, they use their sense of smell to catch prey. Still cute though!
Anybody else remember the story circulating ’round the ‘nets ’bout a year ago ’bout a lady scuba diving off Hawaii with a ray that had fishing line wrapped around it? It swam right up close to the lady, purposely, and she untangled the wire. It swam a bit more with her then took off. Something mystical and awww like that.
OMG!!! That is the cutest little guy! I WANT ONE!!!
I had no idea the stingray had little leggies and armses! This is my first CO post and I’m trying to use the lingo properly! Wonderful!
I can personally testify that these things may look cute but their cute-ness rapidly diminishes after you step on one.
Stay well clear people!
I can personally testify that these things may look cute but their cute-ness rapidly diminishes after you step on one.
Stay well clear people!
Oh! I read the other posts after my higher post here- and when I found the anatomy lesson, it makes more sense! We were certainly fooled by our delight in anthropromorphization! I wonder if this is nature’s way of helping intra-species compassion and communication along?
I’m sorry this picture is not cute, unless you’re a mama stingray. I actually had an “ick” response to this photo.
Okay.
It’s sorta of anerable in its own way. But.
I cannot love rays anymore since one inadvertently caused the tragic demise of my most favorite Aussie.
*wipes away a tear*
wow such a cute pic
EEEK – file this one under cute and/or terrifying. Sure hope I don’t see it in my dreams tonight….
“also, the swimming motion of any ray is one of the most beautiful things ever”
They look like they’re flying through water, all dreamy and unconcerned: Amazing G-rays.
I nominate that sting rays officially be renamed “sea puppies” from this point foreword.
*forward
…ahahaha… woops…
I never thought I’d find a babeh stingray to be cute, but I have to concede! I just wanna tickle his little pseudo-feetsies!
~MegR~
Wow man, the truth is seriously out there. In the water.
i’m sorry, but i don’t think that it’s cute at all.
love it!! I’ve seen these baby stingrays at the aquarium before. They may not be furry, but boy are they small and cute.
I’m not sure I’d call this “cute”, but it certainly is weird and wonderful. I’d never seen the underside of a ray before, although I have seen videos of them swimming – their rippling, undulating edges must be *the* most graceful way a creature can propel itself through the water.
(And the site no longer accuses me of being a robot! Yay!)
Ok, I know they aren’t legs, and I know they aren’t eyes, but Flat Kewpie!
Awesome! Lism is right – it DOES look like a lizard wearing a kite – or more accurately, an Australian frilled lizard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chlamydosaurus_kingii.jpg
The picture completely nails the fact that sharks and reptiles have the same evolutionary history! Thanks, Megan F and Meg!
AHHHHHAAHA HA HA HA HA! HA Ha Ha haahhhaaaa… awwww.
…although, I agree that looking at that belly is giving me a hunger for extra-horseradish cocktail sauce and lemon juice…
BTW – Guitarfish? Amazing! I wonder who named it…
Pancake O’ the Sea
His little piggies sticking out like that are sooooo cyuuuuttteee!! *squeals!!* He looks like he’s trying to say, “I’d be fun to play with if you could only hold your breath long enough…..” Awwwwww… now I want to sprout some gills…
swimming with stringrays in the bahamas is by far one of the best things i have have ever been able to do. they are so soft, and so inquisitive – puppies indeed! i had a whole troop following me who were all like “what? we weren’t following -YOU-” whenever i turned around.
hilarious
alienishly cute!!!
Evolution is an unfounded atheist plot. Move along, nothing to see here.
There’s a theory of evolution that humans evolved from sea creatures.
EYP — may your god one day grant you wisdom, for I fear you are a $#!%-for-brains.
Wow. Oddly cute but now I want to see a Discovery channel special on it. BTW- going back to that link someone posted… they thought it was an alien but ate it anyway?!
hard to believe
isn’t it
Fisherman 1: my g-d it’s a space creature
Fisherman 2 – lets video it
Fisherman 3 – I’ll fire up the grill
This will reveal my taste in movies, but here goes:
Fat lizard in a little kiiiite.
Fat lizard in a little kiiiite.
i know steve wouldnt want me to view them this way,but i cant help but look at stingrays and think about what they did,and its happened to others. i know its part of the eco system,and i was mad when people started killing/butchering them and leaving them on beaches,but its a bit like a black widow spider or cobras..*shrugs* i just cant be fond of them,really. but the ‘leggies’ are pretty cute.
M, I see that you feel bad, but you have to see that what happened was a freak accident. Very few people are actually killed by sting rays.
I used to hate spiders and snakes. I now love snakes and would probably keep one if they didn’t eat mice and need more care than I have time to give. While I’m not crazy about spiders, I have learned about them so I’m not so scared anymore. I appreciate what they do, and let them live in peace as they let me live in peace. It’s fully possible to get over prejudice against these animals if you try.
On a totally different note, my mum saw this picture and she squealed, “Oh my GOD, that’s ADORABLE! What is it?”
thats too cute, proud its a british sting ray too!
That’s not the face–that is the mouth, but the eyes are on the other side.
Stingrays are really friendly, they like to be pet. Too bad they get a bad rap for stinging you, when they get stepped on. But I would sting you too if you stepped on me.
Just shows how we’re ALL THE SAME UNDERNEATH!!!
Yay life!
I’m comin’ to getcha, Bindi.
“How incredibly odd. It’s like a fat lizard wearing a kite!”
That comment made me laugh even louder than the picture itself did, and I laughed pretty loudly at this picture!
Cute, in a weird sort of way. Really weird.
Further proof of evolution.
i find it pathetic calling that cute.. i personally require MORE GUINEA PIGGIES
The article about the fishermen eating the alien is mind boggling and I think about it a lot. I mean, I could understand killing it out of fear or having some kind of religious experience or something, but coming across an alien from outer space and EATING IT??? I just can’t wrap my mind around it…
I know. They musta been some hungry fisherman…
is it wrong that I find a definite resemblance between the stingray-ette and the wing-ed kitteh on CO wallpaper?
I can attest to their being very soft to the touch. I was so amazed by the experience of petting them 17 years ago that I still run my hands over hotel blankets and ask myself, “Feels like a stingray? Yes? No?” They feel like a velour blanket.
Metsakins – Yeah. With nothing to eat. On a fishing boat. Maybe they were sick of fish and thought that an alien might have a strawberry cream filling, like the little guy in the pic.
Maitre di – May I tell you about tonight’s specials?
We have duck al’orange, lamb shanks with orzo, a fresh brook trout smoked to perfection and, if you order quickly, alien
HA!! But order quickly–he’s going to stop squeaking soon….
mmmm…
Fresh alien (market price)
Now I kind of want to taste it…but where would the meat be? The fishermen said it was the best thing they’d ever tasted–do you think they were talking about the internal organs?? Ack! Been at sea too long…
mmm, smiley testicle dumpling…
i don no wy but fa some reason i love dis pic
OMG it’s a Pokemon.
Squee!
This is actually a baby Clear Nose Skate, a relative of stingrays. Their dorsal side is rough or spiny to the touch, unlike rays, which are smooth.
oh,im not mad at them or anything..i know its a defense thing,and that they arent..plotting hurting people or anything!!
but its a twinge of sadness i cant help,you know??
Yay! I love when there’s marine life on cuteoverload!
Couple of things: first, that’s not actually a stingray. It’s a skate, which is a close relative. You can tell because of the body shape and the tail, which is thicker than that of a stingray. Also, skates don’t have stingers at all, so you don’t have to worry about petting this little cutie.
Second, the “legs” aren’t claspers as suggested above, but the second fins. Skates do have claspers, as do rays, but that’s not them. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but I *think* this is a female skate; hence, no claspers. (Claspers on an adult male can be almost as long as the tail!)
I used to work at an aquarium that has a skate and ray touch pool, so I can attest to their charisma. The rays especially seem playful; they like to pop their heads out of the water to see what’s going on, and sometimes they’d get so enthusiastic about it that they’d fall over backwards.
Oh, last thing: the “eyespots” are nostrils. Their eyes are on the tops of their heads because they are bottom-dwelling (benthic) creatures.
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