page_title: Potamotrygonidae
section_title: Taxonomy and species
hierarchical_section_title: Potamotrygonidae / Taxonomy and species
caption_attribution_description: Amazon River ray (w:Plesiotrygon iwamae), in the w:Buffalo Zoo
context_page_description: River stingrays or freshwater stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the family Potamotrygonidae in the order Myliobatiformes, one of the four orders of batoids, cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are found in rivers in tropical and subtropical South America. A single marine genus, Styracura, of the tropical West Atlantic and East Pacific are also part of Potamotrygonidae. They are generally brownish, greyish or black, often with a mottled, speckled or spotted pattern, have disc widths ranging from 31 to 200 centimetres and venomous tail stingers. River stingrays feed on a wide range of smaller animals and the females give birth to live young. There are more than 35 species in five genera.
context_section_description: The taxonomy of the river stingrays is complex and undescribed species remain. The two species of Styracura were only moved to this family in 2016. Among the freshwater species, Heliotrygon and Paratrygon are sister genera, and Plesiotrygon and Potamotrygon are sister genera.
  Subfamily Styracurinae
  Genus Styracura Carvalho, Loboda & da Silva, 2016
  Styracura pacifica (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941) (Pacific chupare)
  Styracura schmardae (Werner, 1904) (Chupare stingray)
  Subfamily Potamotrygoninae
  Genus Heliotrygon Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011
  Heliotrygon gomesi Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011 (Gomes's round ray)
  Heliotrygon rosai Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011 (Rosa's round ray)
  Genus Paratrygon A. H. A. Duméril, 1865
  Paratrygon aiereba Walbaum, 1792 (Discus ray)
  Genus Plesiotrygon Rosa, Castello & Thorson, 1987
  Plesiotrygon iwamae Rosa, Castello & Thorson, 1987 (Long-tailed river stingray)
  Plesiotrygon nana Carvalho & Ragno, 2011 (Black-tailed antenna ray)
  Genus Potamotrygon Garman, 1877
  Potamotrygon adamastor J. P. Fontenelle & M.R. de Carvalho, 2017
  Potamotrygon albimaculata M. R. de Carvalho, 2016 (Itaituba river stingray, Tapajós river stingray)
  Potamotrygon amandae Loboda & M. R. de Carvalho, 2013
  Potamotrygon amazona J. P. Fontenelle & M.R. de Carvalho, 2017
  Potamotrygon boesemani Rosa, M. R. de Carvalho & Almeida Wanderley, 2008 (Boeseman's river stingray, emperor ray)
  Potamotrygon brachyura (Günther, 1880) (Short-tailed river stingray)
  Potamotrygon constellata (Vaillant, 1880) (Thorny river stingray)
  Potamotrygon falkneri Castex & Maciel, 1963 (Largespot river stingray)
  Potamotrygon garmani J. P. Fontenelle & M.R. de Carvalho, 2017
  Potamotrygon henlei (Castelnau, 1855) (Bigtooth river stingray)
  Potamotrygon humerosa Garman, 1913
  Potamotrygon histrix (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1834) (Porcupine river stingray)
  Potamotrygon jabuti M. R. de Carvalho, 2016 (Pearl river stingray)
  Potamotrygon leopoldi Castex & Castello, 1970 (White-blotched river stingray)
  Potamotrygon limai Fontenelle, J. P. C. B. da Silva & M. R. de Carvalho, 2014
  Potamotrygon magdalenae (A. H. A. Duméril, 1865) (Magdalena river stingray)
  Potamotrygon marinae Deynat, 2006
  Potamotrygon marquesi Silva & Loboda, 2019
  Potamotrygon motoro (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841) (Ocellate river stingray)
  Potamotrygon ocellata (Engelhardt, 1912) (Red-blotched river stingray)
  Potamotrygon orbignyi (Castelnau, 1855) (Smoothback river stingray)
  Potamotrygon pantanensis Loboda & M. R. de Carvalho, 2013
  Potamotrygon rex M. R. de Carvalho, 2016 (Great river stingray)
  Potamotrygon schroederi Fernández-Yépez, 1958 (Rosette river stingray)
  Potamotrygon schuhmacheri Castex, 1964 (Parana River stingray)
  Potamotrygon scobina Garman, 1913 (Raspy river stingray)
  Potamotrygon signata Garman, 1913 (Parnaiba River stingray)
  Potamotrygon tatianae J. P. C. B. da Silva & M. R. de Carvalho, 2011
  Potamotrygon tigrina M. R. de Carvalho, Sabaj Pérez & Lovejoy, 2011 (Tiger ray)
  Potamotrygon wallacei M. R. de Carvalho, R. S. Rosa & M. L. G. Araújo, 2016 (Cururu ray)
  Potamotrygon yepezi Castex & Castello, 1970 (Maracaibo River stingray)
caption: Plesiotrygon (here P. iwamae with part of tail missing) is very long-tailed compared to other genera in the family[3]
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