Bigtooth river stingray | |
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Showing upperparts (photo above) and underparts with mouth (photo below) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Superorder: | Batoidea |
Order: | Myliobatiformes |
Family: | Potamotrygonidae |
Genus: | Potamotrygon |
Species: | P. henlei
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Binomial name | |
Potamotrygon henlei (Castelnau, 1855)
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Synonyms | |
Trygon henlei Castelnau, 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]
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]
British Scientist and Angler , Jeremy Wade[7] once hauled out a Bigtooth River Ray from a boat , The Stingray had a black body with yellow isolated spots around the disc. Brown blotched specimens of P. Henlei are also recorded.