 The first formal scientific description of the common stingray , as Raja pastinaca , was authored by the father of taxonomy Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 tenth edition of Systema Naturae . It has since been placed in the genus Dasyatis . There are at least 25 earlier references to this ray in literature , under various non @-@ binomial names such as Raja corpore <unk> , <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> in cauda <unk> , Pastinaca marina prima , and Pastinaca marina <unk> . Many of these early accounts , including Linnaeus ' , also incorporated information from other species . Consequently , the designation of a lectotype is warranted in the interests of taxonomic stability , but this has yet to be enacted . 
