Stingray

The Stingray (Ei; エイ) presents Bakufu's naturalist eye with one of the sea's most architecturally distinctive creatures — its flat, diamond-shaped body moving through the water with an undulating motion, the long venomous tail trailing behind. Stingrays inhabit Japan's coastal waters and are occasionally eaten, though more notable for their distinctive form than their culinary value. Their cartilaginous skeleton and smooth, unmarked upper surface present a very different rendering challenge from Bakufu's scaled fish, demonstrating his range across marine taxonomy.