Bigtooth river stingray

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Bigtooth river stingray
Potamotrygon national aquarium.jpg
Potamotrygon pittsburgh.jpg
Showing upperparts (photo above) and underparts with mouth (photo below)
CITES Appendix II  [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Potamotrygonidae
Genus: Potamotrygon
Species:
P. henlei
Binomial name
Potamotrygon henlei
(Castelnau, 1855)
Synonyms

Trygon henleiCastelnau, 1855

The bigtooth river stingray or Tocantins River ray (Potamotrygon henlei) is a species of freshwater fish in the family Potamotrygonidae. [3] It is endemic to the lower Tocantins basin and Araguaia basin in Brazil, [4] and prefers muddy bottoms. [1] It is sometimes kept in aquaria. [1] This stingray is generally common and its population increased after the Tucuruí Dam was completed, unlike many other species in its range. [1]

Contents

Appearance and relatives

P. henlei reaches up to 71 cm (2.33 ft) in disc width and 104.2 cm (3.42 ft) in total length. [1] It is replaced by the closely related P. rex in the mid and upper Tocantins basin, but that species has concentrically clustered yellow-orange spots. [4] Two other close relatives where the spots are yellowish-white (as in P. henlei) are found in other Brazilian rivers: P. leopoldi from the Xingu River basin and P. albimaculata from the Tapajós River basin. [5] Compared to P. leopoldi, P. henlei is duller above, appearing blackish or dark gray-brown (as opposed to deeper black in P. leopoldi), and its underparts have a large white center and broad brownish-dusky edges (underparts mostly brownish-dusky in P. leopoldi). [5] [6] Compared to P. albimaculata, P. henlei has larger yellowish-white spots above. [5] [6]

In episode 5 of season 3 of River Monsters, “Electric executioner”, British scientist and angler, Jeremy Wade once hauled out a bigtooth river stingray from a boat, the stingray had a black body with yellow isolated spots around the disc. [7] Brown blotched specimens of P. henlei are also recorded.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Rincon, G.; Araújo, M.L.G.; Torres, Y.T.P.; Fernando, E.; Sayer, C. (2025). "Potamotrygon henlei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2025 e.T39402A2923569. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T39402A2923569.en . Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ↑ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Potamotrygon henlei". FishBase . February 2017 version.
  4. 1 2 Carvalho, M.R.d. (2016). "Potamotrygon rex, a new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae) from the middle and upper rio Tocantins, Brazil, closely allied to Potamotrygon henlei (Castelnau, 1855)". Zootaxa. 4150 (5): 537–565. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4150.5.2. PMID   27615813.
  5. 1 2 3 Carvalho, M.R.d. (2016). "Description of two extraordinary new species of freshwater stingrays of the genus Potamotrygon endemic to the rio Tapajós basin, Brazil (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae), with notes on other Tapajós stingrays". Zootaxa. 4167 (1): 1–63. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4167.1.1. PMID   27701358.
  6. 1 2 Ramos, H.A.C. (May 2017), Commercial species of freshwater stingrays in Brazil, Department of Sustainable Use of Biodiversity and Forests, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources and Ministry of the Environment, pp. 1–33
  7. ↑ Jeremy Catches A Potentially Lethal Stingray | STINGRAY | River Monsters. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-27.
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