How Do Stingrays Breathe?

Breathing In With Gills

As with fish, the mouth of a stingray draws in water constantly, which flows back on the gills and is expelled through slits in the bottom of the ray's body. Gills are organs located on either side of the head or just below the mouth. They use a network of blood vessels, like the human lung, to separate gases out of the water the stingray drinks in. The blood vessels in the gills are able to absorb the oxygen the animal needs.

Breathing Out With Gills

As the water flows past the gills and the blood vessels absorb the oxygen, it continues out of the stingray's body through five gill slits. As the excess water is breathed out, the blood vessels diffuse waste carbon dioxide back into the waste water. The gill slits are usually located below the mouth on the stingray's stomach. The stingray, like fish, has the ability to close the slits to hold in water temporarily.

Differences in Gills

Many stingrays are bottom dwelling animals which swim along the ocean floor, therefore some may have a variation on the normal "fish gill." These rays have intake slashes which serve as gills on their stomach, beside their mouths. Instead of breathing water into their mouths first, they can draw water into their slits and then expel it. This is so bottom dwelling rays do not have to take in mouthfuls of sand and dirt from the ocean floor.