The Chilean round stingray (''Urobatis marmoratus''), is a species of round ray, family

Urolophidae The Urolophidae are a family of rays in the order Myliobatiformes, commonly known as stingarees or round stingrays. This family formerly included the genera '' Urobatis'' and ''Urotrygon'' of the Americas, which are presently recognized as formin ...

. Virtually nothing is known about it, as it is only known from a single specimen described by Rodolfo Amando Philippi in 1893. The specimen measured 38.5 cm long and was collected off

Quintero Quintero is a Chilean city and commune in Valparaíso Province, in the Valparaíso Region, 30 kilometers north of Valparaíso. The commune spans an area of . It was the first port in the country, created during the expedition of Diego de Almagr ...

, Chile. It had the nearly circular pectoral fin disc typical of the round rays, with the front margins straight. The distance between the

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

s was more than two-thirds the distance between the eyes and the tip of the

snout A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...

. The body was very thick for a

ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

, and completely smooth. The tail was shorter than the length of the disc. The coloration was distinctive, consisting of numerous small white spots on a dark background. It is likely

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3282134 Urobatis Fish of Chile Fish described in 1893 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic fauna of Chile Species known from a single specimen