What do stingrays eat? Given the fact that there are some seventy different species of the stingray, you might expect that there would be some variation in the diets among the different species, and you would be right. For the most part however, the diets do not vary too significantly, although there are a couple of exceptions.Answering the question “What do stingrays eat?” can be a little complicated and difficult because stingrays are for the most part nocturnal feeders. We know something about their food preferences in captivity but that is mainly because they eat what they are fed. Fortunately they can subsist on a wide variety of foods, so they can be kept healthy in captivity even though their diet may have changed from what once was their natural diet. Stingrays in captivity are often fed squid, and do perfectly fine, although they seldom pursue squid in their natural environment.