The bigtooth river stingray or Tocantins River ray (''Potamotrygon henlei'') is a
species of
freshwater fish in the
family Potamotrygonidae.
It is
endemic to the lower
Tocantins basin and
Araguaia basin in
Brazil,
[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.] and prefers muddy bottoms.
It is sometimes kept in
aquaria.
This
stingray
Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...
is generally common and its population increased after the
Tucuruí Dam was completed, unlike many other species in its range.
Appearance and relatives
''P. henlei'' reaches up to in disc width and in total length.
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.
[ 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
The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clear ...
basin.[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.'' 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'').[
]
References
External links
Species Description of Potamotrygon henlei at www.shark-references.com
henlei
Endemic fauna of Brazil
Freshwater fish of Brazil
Fish described in 1855
Taxa named by François-Louis Laporte, comte de Castelnau
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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