The Brazilian cownose ray (''Rhinoptera brasiliensis''), also commonly called the Ticon cownose ray, is a species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the family

Rhinopteridae ''Rhinoptera'' is a genus of ray commonly known as the cownose rays. This genus is the only member of the family Rhinopteridae. Species There are currently 8 recognized extant (living) species in this genus: * '' Rhinoptera adspersa'' J. P. M� ...

. Its range extends along the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

from the southern tip of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to western

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are shallow

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

waters, and intertidal flats.

Morphology

Males tend to range in size from 78 to 91 cm disc width (DW) with a brown back and white or light yellow belly. Females are larger, ranging from 77 to 102 cm DW with similar coloring. The Ticon cownose ray very closely resembles its cousin the

cownose ray The cownose ray (''Rhinoptera bonasus'') is a species of Batoidea found throughout a large part of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England, United States to southern Brazil (the East Atlantic populations are now generally considered ...

(''Rhinoptera bonasus'') in both size and coloring. So close is the similarity that the only way to differentiate the two is by the number of teeth. ''R. brasiliensis'' have a broader mouth allowing for three central rows of broad teeth as opposed to ''R. bonasus'' one central row.Vooren, C.M. & Lamónaca, A.F. 2004.

Reproduction

The Brazilian cownose ray is

ovoviviparous Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, ovivipary, or aplacental viviparity is a term used as a "bridging" form of reproduction between egg-laying oviparous and live-bearing viviparous reproduction. Ovoviviparous animals possess embryos that develop insi ...

with the embryo developing in an egg kept within the female.Torres, A.G. & Luna, S.M. 2007 The female only carries one embryo at a time. This low fecundity leads to a low species resiliency with a minimum population doubling time of 4.5 to 14 years.

Notes

References

* *Torres, A.G. & Luna S.M. 2007.
Rhinoptera Brasiliensis
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