Boeseman's river stingray

Potamotrygon boesemani . Dorsal ( A ) and ventral ( B ) views of holotype (USNM 225574, 377 mm DW), Corantijn river.

​Hello, hello, hello! Today, The Fins United Initiative is introducing you to Boeseman's river stingray (Potamotrygon boesemani).

But first, a #finfact: freshwater stingrays belong to two families- Potamotrygonidae and Dasyatidae. Today’s #flatshark is looking at the Potamotrygonidae, also known as “river stingrays” which belong to the Myliobatiformes order. They are a recently described species and is only known from the Corantijn river drainage in Surinam. Surinam was once known as Dutch Guiana, is one of South America's smallest countries.

The specific name honors the late Dutch biologist Marinus Boeseman who passed away in 2006 and was a big contributer to South American chondrichthyan knowledge. Boeseman’s river stingray are a dark black-brown color with a pattern of orange and red spots encircled by black rings on their dorsal (top) side. Their underbelly is a paler color, although some of the darker black-brown color leeched from the top to the bottom. Taxonomic distinction of the species of Potamotrygon has been based mostly on color pattern, and this what that led to the recognition of this new species. It’s interesting to note that the USNM specimens of Boeseman’s river stingray were misidentified as Potamotrygon histrix in museum labels! Wonder how often that has happened…

TFUI could not find an IUCN profile for this animal.

​WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS ANIMAL?

GLOSSARY

• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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