Porcupine Ray

Image: Christa Rohrbach
Urogymnus asperrimus

HANDLE WITH CARE!

It's a stingray...

Image: Olivier Cochard-Labbé

That lacks a sting.

But it's the PORCUPINE Ray. And while it isn't a raygun that fires porcupines at the press of a button, it's still best to be wary of anything that has "porcupine" in its name.

Video: Justine Kimball

So it is that the Porcupine Ray is covered in armour plating speckled with sharp thorns all over its back and tail. Rays, like sharks and other cartilaginous fish, are the proud owners of tough scales known as denticles. Their skin can be used to make a kind of leather known as shagreen, and the Porcupine Ray's particularly rough texture was often used for sword handles.

Or maybe you could just pick one up by the tail and slap a guy across the face with it? They can get over a metre (3.3 ft) across so they'd pack a significant punch!

Image: Olivier ROUX
Gigantic spiracle for breathing

The Porcupine Ray isn't common, but it does have a huge range that clings to all the coastal waters from South Africa to Australia. They spend their time unearthing crustaceans, worms and fish from the sandy sea floor and crushing them between their flattened teeth.

To be honest, I'm still waiting for my porcupine raygun. Give me my porcupine raygun and my jetpack and I will become the greatest highwayman the world has ever seen.