- Subclass: Elasmobranch
- Broad flattened bodies
- Light bottom with mouth + gills
- Dark top with eyes
- Teeth in fused upper and lower plates, scales in the form of denticles
- The males have sexual organs called claspers
- The skates and rays are most closely related to the order Pristiophoridae
- Pectoral fins running the length of their relatively short bodies, which essentially act as wings
