Family Potamotrygonidae - River stingrays
Order : Myliobatiformes Potamotrygonidae
Class : Elasmobranchii
No. in FishBase : Genera : 5 | Species : 40 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
Environment : Fresh : Yes | Brackish : No | Marine : Yes
Division : Peripheral/diadromous
Aquarium : none
First Fossil Record :      
Remark : Neotropical freshwater stingrays of the family Potamotrygonidae presently comprise three genera (Potamotrygon, Paratrygon and Plesiotrygon) and at least 18 species. The family has an extensive taxonomic history dating back to 1834, but was known long before formal taxonomic recognition (Castex, 1963a). Potamotrygonids are much maligned and feared because of their venomous caudal stings, but pose little or no threat if not stepped on or directly interfered with. The Potamotrygonidae is the only living chondrichthyan family restricted to freshwater habitats. Potamotrygonid stingrays are clearly monophyletic, sharing unique morphological and physiological specializations, including a pelvis with a greatly expanded anterior median process (pre-pelvic process), blood with low concentrations of urea, and reduction of the rectal gland (Garman, 1877; Thorson et al., 1983a). They are generally medium to large sized batoids, ranging from about 25 cm in disc width or length to more than 100 cm in adults of some species. Species of Potamotrygon have moderately stout and short tails, usually shorter than disc length, whereas Paratrygon and Plesiotrygon have slender, filiform and whiplike tails (in Paratrygon the tail is very long in juveniles but absolutely reduced in adults, and in Plesiotrygon it is much longer than disc length but also stout at base). The dorsal surface of the disc and tail are usually covered with many denticles, thorns and tubercles. The caudal sting (or serrated spine) is a rigid dermal derivative, located on the dorsal surface of the tail, containing small lateral serrations directed toward its base and an acute distal tip. The sting is reduced and situated closer to the tail base in Paratrygon, but well developed and located farther posteriorly in both Plesiotrygon and Potamotrygon. The stings contain longitudinal grooves to conduct venom produced in special glands at their bases, and are continuously worn, shed and replaced; up to four stings may be present in one individual. Additionally, many species have enlarged, non-venomous spines on disc margins or over tail, sometimes in numerous rows. The disc is usually slightly longer than wide (especially in Paratrygon), and covers most of the pelvic fins posteriorly (but less in Plesiotrygon). Dorsal and caudal fins are absent, but membranous skin folds (finfolds), with rudimentary internal radial elements, occur in Potamotrygon on both upper and lower tail midlines posterior to caudal stings (only ventral finfold is present in Plesiotrygon, and finfolds are absent in Paratrygon). The eyes are moderately large in Potamotrygon, but smaller and less protruded in Paratrygon and Plesiotrygon. Oral teeth are small with short cusps (more prominent in adult males), in usually less than 50 rows in either jaw (large specimens of Plesiotrygon may have more than 60 rows), and set in quincunx. Most potamotrygonid species have colorful dorsal arrangements, including spots of various dimensions, ocelli, reticulate patterns, and vermiform markings, which are generally species-specific, and grey, brown or black background coloration. Potamotrygonids are ovoviviparous (aplacentally viviparous), and the developing embryos are nourished by uterine milk secreted by trophonemata (Thorson et al., 1983b). Both uteri are functional and appear to be synchronous. Gestation may be restricted to certain stations or occur throughout the year, and the number of young produced in each gestation varies among species, but is usually from two to seven. Potamotrygonids only occur in South American rivers that drain into the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea. They are are conspicuously absent, however, from the São Francisco basin in northeastern Brazil, rivers that drain into the Atlantic from the Atlantic rainforest of northeastern and southeastern Brazil, the upper Paraná basin, and rivers south of the La Plata river in Argentina. Generally, most potamotrygonid species have distributions restricted to a single basin or river system, with only a few species present in more than one basin (e.g. Potamotrygon motoro, Potamotrygon orbignyi). Some species are even restricted to a single river (e.g. Potamotrygon leopoldi). This high endemism has led recent workers to express concern that some species may be endangered (Compagno & Cook, 1995; Rosa & Menezes, 1996), or are at least clearly vulnerable at present (two species are cited on the IUCN Red List as "data deficient"). Potamotrygonids are generally not consumed as food, but are commercialized in increasing quantity by the aquarium trade, and are only seldomly bred in captivity for commercial purposes. Further studies on their population structure and dynamics are therefore very much needed. The literature concerning potamotrygonids is vast. After the revision of Garman (1913), the next taxonomic study to treat the entire family is that of Rosa (1985a). Anatomical descriptions can be found in Garman (1877, 1913), Thorson & Watson (1975), Rosa (1985a), Nishida (1990), Taniuchi & Ishihara (1990), and Lovejoy (1996). Their phylogenetic relationships have been treated by Rosa (1985a), Dingerkus (1995), Lovejoy (1996) and McEachran et al. (1996). Accounts of their natural history are presented by Castex (1964a) and Castello (1975). Physiological aspects of potamotrygonids are summarized in Thorson et al. (1983a), and the reproductive biology of certain species by Thorson et al. (1983b), Teshima & Takeshita (1992), and Lasso et al. (1997a). Their historical biogeography has been studied by Brooks et al. (1981), Lovejoy (1996, 1997), Lovejoy et al. (1998), and Lundberg (1998). Recent descriptions of fossil remains (mostly isolated denticles) can be found in Deynat & Brito (1996) and Lundberg (1997). Recent taxonomic and historic compilations are those by Compagno & Cook (1995) and Zorzi (1995), and the extensive literature on potamotrygonid parasites is summarized in Brooks & Amato (1992). The following account is mostly based on original work by the first author, supplemented by information from Rosa (1985a) concerning type specimens of Potamotrygon deposited in museums in Argentina. This account differs from the revision of Rosa (1985a) in relation to the fate of various nominal species, and is also more conservative, recognizing fewer species. At least five new species have been found and are not included here (these are presently being described elsewhere). Taxonomic work on the family is constrained by the fact that many species of Potamotrygon are poorly described, lack adequate material, or present much intraspecific variation in coloration. This is compounded by generally overlapping meristic and morphometric features among species of Potamotrygon (both other genera are monotypic). Therefore, the approach adopted here has been to not recognize certain species that are inadequately defined at present, or that lack adequate material for proper characterization (e.g. Potamotrygon dumerilii,Potamotrygon humerosa). The current account is a working summary of the family, one that is subject to modifications as more collecting and research is conducted. This family is treated as it has traditionally been used in the literature, i.e. restricting it to Potamotrygon, Paratrygon and Plesiotrygon only, and refrain from including other genera that have recently been hypothesized as being their sister-taxa (amphi-American Himantura and Taeniura; Lovejoy, 1996; McEachran et al. 1996). Note that DW is disc width, and DL is disc length, which are standard measurements in stingrays (total length is usually not used as the distal tip of the tail is frequently missing in specimens).
Etymology : Greek, potamos = river + Greek, trigon = with three angles ( Ref. 45335).
Reproductive guild : bearers
Typical activity level :
Main Ref. : de Carvalho, M.R., N. Lovejoy and R.S. Rosa 2003
Coordinator : de Carvalho, M.R., N. Lovejoy and R.S. Rosa 2003
Deep Fin Classification :

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Ref.
[ e.g. 9948 ]
Glossary
[ e.g. oophagy ]


Species/Synonymy list for the family Potamotrygonidae as currently in FishBase

Important recommendation:

The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.

Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.

But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.

Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.

This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).

The list ordered as follows:

Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.

Show all | Show only accepted name | Show only accepted and original names
Scientifc name Status Senior/Junior synonym Combination
Potamotrygoninae
Potamotrygon histrix (Müller & Henle, 1839)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon hystrix Müller & Henle, 1839
synonymseniororiginal
! Potamotrygon hystrix (Müller & Henle, 1839)
synonymseniornew
Trygon hystrix Müller & Henle, 1841
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon motoro (Müller & Henle, 1841)
acceptedseniornew
Taeniura motoro Müller & Henle, 1841
synonymseniororiginal
Trygon garrapa Jardine, 1843
synonymjuniororiginal
Trygon mulleri Castelnau, 1855
synonymjuniororiginal
ambiguousotheroriginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Paratrygon laticeps (Garman, 1913)
synonymjuniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon alba Castex, 1963
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon henlei (Castelnau, 1855)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon henlei Castelnau, 1855
synonymseniororiginal
Potamotrygon orbignyi (Castelnau, 1855)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon orbignyi Castelnau, 1855
synonymseniororiginal
! Trygon dorbignyi Castelnau, 1855
synonymseniororiginal
! Trygon d'orbignyi Castelnau, 1855
synonymseniororiginal
Trygon dumerilii Castelnau, 1855
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon dumerilii (Castelnau, 1855)
synonymjuniornew
Trygon reticulatus Günther, 1880
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon reticulatus (Günther, 1880)
synonymjuniornew
Potamotrygon roulini Roberts, 2021
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon humerosus (non Garman, 1913)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Potamotrygon magdalenae (Duméril, 1865)
acceptedseniornew
Taeniura magdalenae Duméril, 1865
synonymseniororiginal
Trygon hystrix (non Müller & Henle, 1841)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Potamotrygon brachyura (Günther, 1880)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon brachyurus Günther, 1880
synonymseniororiginal
Potamotrygon brumi Devincenzi, 1942
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon constellata (Vaillant, 1880)
acceptedseniornew
Taeniura constellata Vaillant, 1880
synonymseniororiginal
! Toeniura constellata Vaillant, 1880
synonymseniororiginal
ambiguousotheroriginal
Potamotrygon ocellata (Engelhardt, 1912)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon hystrix ocellata Engelhardt, 1912
synonymseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
! Potamotrygon humerosus Garman, 1913
synonymseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
! Potamotrygon signatus Garman, 1913
synonymseniororiginal
Potamotrygon schroederi Fernández-Yépez, 1958
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon falkneri Castex & Maciel, 1963
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon menchacai Martínez Achenbach, 1967
synonymjuniororiginal
Potamotrygon castexi Castello & Yagolkowski, 1969
synonymjuniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
synonymseniororiginal
synonymseniororiginal
Potamotrygon leopoldi Castex & Castello, 1970
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon yepezi Castex & Castello, 1970
acceptedseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon boesemani Rosa, Carvalho & Almeida Wanderley, 2008
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon tatianae Silva & Carvalho, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon tigrina Carvalho, Sabaj Pérez & Lovejoy, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon amandae Loboda & Carvalho, 2013
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon pantanensis Loboda & Carvalho, 2013
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon limai Fontenelle, Da Silva & Carvalho, 2014
acceptedseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon jabuti Carvalho, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon rex Carvalho, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon wallacei Carvalho, Rosa & Araújo, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon adamastor Fontenelle & Carvalho, 2017
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon amazona Fontenelle & Carvalho, 2017
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon garmani Fontenelle & Carvalho, 2017
acceptedseniororiginal
Potamotrygon marquesi Silva & Loboda, 2019
acceptedseniororiginal
Paratrygon aiereba (Müller & Henle, 1841)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon aiereba Müller & Henle, 1841
synonymseniororiginal
Raja ajereba Walbaum, 1792
synonymjuniororiginal
Paratrygon ajereba (Walbaum, 1792)
synonymjuniornew
! Paratrygon aiereba (Walbaum, 1792)
synonymjuniornew
Trygon strogylopterus Jardine, 1843
synonymjuniororiginal
Disceus thayeri Garman, 1913
synonymjuniororiginal
Elipesurus spinicauda (non Schomburgk, 1843)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Paratrygon orinocensis Loboda, Lasso, Rosa & Carvalho, 2021
acceptedseniororiginal
Paratrygon parvaspina Loboda, Lasso, Rosa & Carvalho, 2021
acceptedseniororiginal
Plesiotrygon iwamae Rosa, Castello & Thorson, 1987
acceptedseniororiginal
Elipesurus strogylopterus (non Schomburgk, 1843)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Potamotrygon scobina (non Garman, 1913)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Plesiotrygon nana Carvalho & Ragno, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Heliotrygon gomesi Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Heliotrygon rosai Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Styracurinae
Styracura schmardae (Werner, 1904)
acceptedseniornew
Trygon schmardae Werner, 1904
synonymseniororiginal
Dasyatis schmardae (Werner, 1904)
synonymseniornew
Himantura schmardae (Werner, 1904)
synonymseniornew
! Himantura schmarde (Werner, 1904)
synonymseniornew
Styracura pacifica (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941)
acceptedseniornew
Dasyatis pacificus Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941
synonymseniororiginal
Himantura pacifica (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941)
synonymseniornew
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