Black Sting Rays!

Much to the surprise of collectors, some of the Sting Ray palm charms were black! Checking with Lueze, we learned that there was one black ray for every four ivory ones. And all of the sting rays are female!

Flip over your palm charm and look at the paired fins on the underside, the pelvic fins. In sharks, rays and skates, the males have specialized pelvic fins, called claspers that are used to clasp the female during mating. The pelvic fin is clearly separated into two parts. Even newborn males can be identified by these distinctive fins. Females have "normal" looking pelvic fins as seen in the palm charm.

Ebony Sting Ray
Image Courtesy of Dolores Kingston

Ebony Sting Ray
Image Courtesy of Dolores Kingston