In most vertebrates the embryonic cartilaginous skeleton is replaced by bone during development. During this process, cartilage cells (chondrocytes) mineralize the matrix and mostly die, giving way to bone cells (osteocytes). In contrast, sharks and rays (elasmobranchs) have cartilaginous skeletons throughout life, where only the surface mineralizes, forming a layer of tiles (tesserae). Unlike other vertebrates, elasmobranch chondrocytes survive cartilage mineralization and are maintained alive within tesserae. However, the roles of the chondrocytes remain unknown. Analyzing synchrotron microCT scans of tesserae, we characterize variations in the morphologies and arrangements of stingray chondrocyte lacunae. We show that the cell density and cell volume do not differ between the unmineralized and mineralized tissue and, indicating they do not proliferate, hypertrophy and die as in other taxa. The cell density increases near pores passing through the tesseral layer, suggesting these may constitute a nutrients source. Tessera lacunae show distinct zonal variation in their shapes -being flatter further from the cartilage matrix and spherical in the center of tesserae—, and a strong orientation toward neighbouring tesserae, perhaps providing a fingerprint of the tesserae development, while indicating local variation in tissue strain and cell function. Lacunae are linked by small passages (canaliculi) in the matrix, connecting lacunae in series and creating a rich connectivity among cells and tesserae. These results indicate that these cells may interact and manage mineralization differently from chondrocytes in other vertebrates, perhaps performing analogues roles to osteocytes in bone