Branco River Stingray

Introducing a #flatshark only known from the Rio Branco system in the Amazon Basin in Roraima, Brazil. Specifically, you can only see the Branco River Stingray (Potamotrygon adamastor) from Rio Urariquera, a large right-bank tributary of Rio Branco.

Potamotrygon adamastor. © 2007 Fernando P.L. Marques.

River stingrays or freshwater stingrays like the Branco River Stingray are in the family Potamotrygonidae, in the order Myliobatiformes. A benthopelagic animal that inhabits these tropical waters, very little is known about them. Their disc width (DW) is about 450-615 mm, and they are a brown-black color with yellow spots scattered about. Around the disc is a reddish color, and their stumpy tail is infamous. Why? Well, first… their name…

You may be thinking to yourself, “Adamastor. That sounds familiar…” and it should. The epithet ‘adamastor’ is an adaptation of the Greek 'Adamastos', which means untamed. This stingray is named after one of those giants in Greek mythology who opposed Zeus and Thetis. Adamastor was banished to Earth and became a raging storm over the Cape of Storms, labelled as untamed… but how can a stingray be untamed? Well, like the giant apparently this stingray is very strong and violent when caught, with a stinger that can pierce even the toughest of plastic.

​The IUCN has not assessed these animals.

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