Every now and then mother nature throws me a curve. Just when I
thought I had seen it all, a critter swims by that I didn't know
existed.
The animal in this picture is called a ray shark. It's part shark and part ray. It has
wings that extend laterally from its body like a ray, and when it swims, the
tips of its wings move up and down just like a spotted sting ray. The head is
also flattened in a manner resembling rays. The rest of the animal is
vintage shark. If you saw only the back half of its body, you would
think you saw a shark. If you saw only the front half, you might think
you were looking at malformed ray.
It turns out that sharks and rays are related to each other; you might say
they are distant cousins. This ray shark is like a long lost relative
that shows up from time to time to remind everyone (rays and sharks) that
they are family.
I wonder if ray sharks have psychological problems.
If they were humans, they would probably have difficulty fitting in. It
wouldn't be long before someone would be calling them half-breeds and
ridiculing them for their unusual appearance. Fortunately, these fish
aren't related to humans, and budding fish psychiatrists will have to look
elsewhere for work.
Being a ray shark does have it's perks. After all, you are a shark, and
that has to get you more than a little respect. That might might give
you enough clout to keep nasty predators away, because no one wants to mess
with sharks. Winning through intimidation works.
Imagine how much fun you would have when you went to the beach.
Swimmers standing in murky water see you gliding toward them, and they
exclaim, "Look at the beautiful spotted ray." Then you turn your body
sideways so they can see that you are a shark, and they instantly run for
their lives. It sounds like fun to me.
