The Xingu River ray, white-blotched river stingray, or polka-dot stingray (''Potamotrygon leopoldi'') is a species of
freshwater fish
Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...
in the family
Potamotrygonidae
River stingrays or freshwater stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the family (biology), family Potamotrygonidae in the Order (biology), order Myliobatiformes, one of the four orders of Batoidea, batoids, cartilaginous fishes related to ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
Xingu River
The Xingu River ( ; pt, Rio Xingu, ; Mẽbêngôkre: ''Byti'', ) is a river in north Brazil. It is a southeast tributary of the Amazon River and one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin, accounting for about 5% of its water.
...
basin in
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 ...
and as such prefers
clear waters with rocky bottoms.
It is sometimes kept in
aquaria, like its more common relative the
Motoro.
Etymology
The fish is named in honor of
King Leopold III
Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasi ...
(1901–1983) of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, who sponsored many scientific studies at the
Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique.
Description
''Potamotrygon leopoldi'' reaches up to in disc width,
in total length and in weight. Females grow larger than males. It is closely related to the similar ''
P. henlei'' from the
Tocantins River
The Tocantins River ( pt, Rio Tocantins, link=no , , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan ...
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 cle ...
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. henlei'', ''P. leopoldi'' is deeper black above and its underparts are mostly brownish-dusky (large white center to underparts of ''P. henlei'').
[
The Xingu river ray is a venomous stingray that contains venom localized at its dentine spine in its tail.]
References
*
leopoldi
Freshwater fish of Brazil
Endemic fauna of Brazil
Taxa named by Mariano N. Castex
Taxa named by Hugo P. Castello
Fish described in 1970
Articles containing video clips
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Chondrichthyes-stub