stingray

Stingray is a cult coldwar English tv series starring Troy Tempest and Marina. It first aired in the early 1960's, and was filmed using a then new technique called Supermarionation, developed by Sylvia and Gerry Anderson.

This husband and wife team went on to create Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Space 1999, and Terrahawks.

The Stingray is a low-end semi-automatic paintball marker manufactured by the Brass Eagle corporation. You can find it lining the aisles of the sporting goods section of the local Wal-Mart for a healthy sum of about $70, or packaged with a mask, hopper, elbow, squeegee and the ever-useful 12-gram cartridge adapter for about $100.

The Brass Eagle website has a lot of good things to say about this marker (Specifically, the newest model, the Stingray II Ice). It claims that the marker is "made from the finest clear, impact resistant plastic available and is virtually indestructible! It's perfectly balanced for a steady aim and a perfect shot. Its performance/price ratio is unmatched in today's marketplace. *It's* (note the spelling mistake on the website) predecessor, the Stingray II, is the world's number one selling semi-automatic paintball marker." The website goes on to laud the marker in true mass marketing style, right down to the "aircraft grade aluminum barrel."

It is quite true that the marker is nearly indestructible on the outside. Give it a few months, however, and it will destroy itself on the inside, undue friction and uncushioned impact will see to that. As for the part about it being perfectly balanced, such may be the case, but aiming this marker is an exercise in futility. The price/performance ratio is a questionable fact, because I'm fairly sure such a thing does not exist. You get exactly what you pay for. And it's the world's number one selling semi-auto marker because it just so happens to be the cheapest and the monetarily disadvantaged flock to it.

I seriously recommend against purchasing this marker. It's loud, wildly inaccurate, and it's hard as hell to cock. Save up an extra forty bucks and go for a Spyder Compact or a PMI Piranha.

The Stingray is any of a class of cartilaginous marine animals of the subclass Elasmobranchii, orders Myliobatiformes (rays) or Rajiformes (skates), found in both salt- and freshwaters, on the coast as well as some rivers, around the world.

Rays swim with a "flying" motion, propelled by motion of their large pectoral fins (commonly referred to as "wings").

A stingray's stinger is a razor-sharp, barbed or serrated cartilage which grows from the ray's whip-like tail (like a fingernail). It is coated with a toxic venom encased in a thin sheath.

Stingrays do not "attack" aggressively, or even actively defend themselves - when threatened their primary reaction is to swim away. However, when they are attacked by predators or stepped on, the barbed stinger in their tail is mechanically whipped up by reflex, usually into the offending foot; it is also possible, although less likely, to be stung "accidentally" by brushing against the stinger. Contact with the stinger causes local trauma (from the cut itself), pain and swelling from the venom, and possible infection from parts of the stinger left in the wound, as well as from seawater entering the wound. It is possible for ray stings to be fatal if they sever major arteries, are in the chest or pelvic region, or are improperly treated. Their stingers are normally ineffective against their main predator, sharks.

Treatment for stings includes hot water (as hot as the victim can stand), which helps ease pain and break down the venom, and antibiotics. Vinegar or urine (a popular remedy by some locals) may or may not be successful in easing pain; neither cleans the wound properly. Other possible pain remedies include meat tenderizer. Pain normally lasts up to 48 hours but is most severe in the first 30-60 minutes and may be accompanied by nausea, fatigue, headaches, chills, etc.

Among marine animals, stingrays are most closely related to sharks. Rays are viviparous (bearing live young in "litters" of 5-10), while skates are oviparous (laying eggs, the casings of which look like shark eggs). Since their eyes are on top of their head, and their mouths on the bottom, they cannot see their prey, and instead use their sense of smell and electro-receptors similar to those of the shark. Rays feed primarily on mollusks and crustaceans, or occasionally on small fish; rays settle on the bottom while feeding, sometimes leaving only the eyes and tail visible.

Rays may be caught on a fishing line, using small crabs as bait, and are often caught accidentally; they may also be speared from above. They are edible but not normally preferred; small rays may be cooked similarly to other fish, typically grilled or battered and fried. It is rumored that in some cases circular cuttings from bat ray wings are substituted for scallop. While not valuable themselves, stingrays can damage shellfishing grounds. Most species of stingray are neither threatened or endangered.

Viewing stingrays:
Stingrays are not normally visible to swimmers, but divers and snorkelers may find them in shallow sandy waters, more so when the water is unseasonably warm. The Baltimore Aquarium has a large stingray tank where they may be viewed from above or below; many other aquariums exhibit rays. In the Cayman Islands, there is Sting ray city where divers can swim with large bat rays and feed them by hand.

Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobrachii

• Order: Myliobatiformes (I'm not entirely sure about the order for the following families)
  • Narcinidae (narcinid rays)
  • Rhinidae (rhinid rays)
  • Rhinobatidae (guitarfishes)
  • Plesiobatidae (deepwater stingray)
  • Gymnuridae (butterfly rays)
  • Myliobatididae (eagle rays)
  • Hexatrydonidae (sixgill stingray)
  • Mobulidae (manta ray)
• Order: Rajiformes (I'm not entirely sure about the order for the following families)
  • Rajidae (skates)
  • Dasyatidae (stingrays)
  • Urolophidae (round stingrays)
• Order: Torpediniformes
  • Torpedo rays
  • Electric rays

The name "stingray" has been applied to:

• a model of Chevrolet Corvette automobile
• a model of child's bicycle;
• a powerboat; a paintball gun (and probably others).
• a book by Peter Lance about CBS television series Survivor's first season winner, Richard Hatch.
• a television series created by Gerry Anderson

--Information courtesy Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (with permission)

Sting ray or Sting"ray` , n.

Any one of numerous rays of the family Dasyatidæ, syn. Trygonidæ, having one or more large sharp barbed dorsal spines, on the whiplike tail, capable of inflicting severe wounds. Some species reach a large size, and some, esp., on the American Pacific coast, are very destructive to oysters.

 

© Webster 1913.