Potamotrygon falkneri
{{Short description|Species of cartilaginous fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Potamotrygon ripley.jpg
| status = DD
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Potamotrygon
| species = falkneri
| authority = Castex & Maciel, 1963
| synonyms = *Potamotrygon castexi {{small|Castello & Yagolkowski, 1969}}
- Potamotrygon menchacai {{small|Achenbach, 1967}}
}}
Potamotrygon falkneri, the largespot river stingray or reticulated freshwater stingray, is a species of freshwater stingray in the family Potamotrygonidae from tropical and subtropical South America.{{FishBase species | genus = Potamotrygon | species = falkneri | month = February| year = 2017}} It is sometimes seen in the aquarium trade, but requires a very large tank.{{cite web | url = http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/potamotrygon-falkneri/ | title = Potamotrygon falkneri | publisher = SeriouslyFish | accessdate = 20 February 2017}}
Taxonomy and appearance
Image:Trnucha Castexova 9213.jpg-like spots]]
Image:Aquarium tropical du Palais de la Porte Dorée - Potamotrygon castexi.jpg
Image:Potamotrygon national zoo.jpg
This species was originally described by ichthyologists Castex and Maciel in 1963.
This species is densely spotted above, but the exact color and pattern are very variable. One of these types was initially described as a separate species P. castexi and another as P. menchacai. Intermediates between the various patterns are common, and all represent variants of the species P. falkneri.{{cite journal | author1=da Silva, J.P.C.B | author2=de Carvalho, M.R. | year=2011 | title= A taxonomic and morphological redescription of Potamotrygon falkneri Castex & Maciel, 1963 (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae) | journal=Neotrop. Ichthyol. | volume=9 | issue=1 | pages=209–232 | doi=10.1590/S1679-62252011000100021 | doi-access=free }} It reaches a disc width of up to {{convert|52|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a total length, including tail, up to {{convert|89|cm|in|abbr=on}}.
The so-called "tiger stingray" has sometimes been misidentified as P. menchacai (a synonym of P. falkneri), but it is a separate species that only was scientifically described as P. tigrina in 2011.Carvalho, M.R.d., Sabaj Pérez, M.H. & Lovejoy, N.R. (2011). Potamotrygon tigrina, a new species of freshwater stingray from the upper Amazon basin, closely related to Potamotrygon schroederi Fernandez-Yépez, 1958 (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae). Zootaxa 2827: 1–30.
Etymology
The etymology of the term Potamotrygon derives from the Greek words potamos, which means 'river', and trygon which means 'sting ray'.
The species name is in honor of British Jesuit Tomas Falkner (1707-1784), (also spelled Thomas Falconer), for his apostolic and scientific work in Argentina in the 18th-century.{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/myliobatiformes/ | title = Order MYLIOBATIFORMES (Stingrays) | access-date= 11 November 2021 | author1 = Christopher Scharff | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara | date = 22 September 2018}}
Distribution
This species has a disjunct distribution with the best-known population found throughout much of the Paraná—Paraguay River basin in southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. Initially it did not occur in the upper Paraná basin above the Guaíra Falls, but these disappeared after the construction of the Itaipu Dam, allowing this species (and several others) to spread.Júlio Júnior, Dei Tós, Agostinho, and Pavanelli (2009). A massive invasion of fish species after eliminating a natural barrier in the upper rio Paraná basin. Neotropical Ichthyology 7(4): 709–18. {{doi|10.1590/S1679-62252009000400021}}
The other main distribution of P. falkneri is in the upper Amazon Basin: Madre de Díos, Guaporé, Beni, Marañón and Solimões Rivers in Bolivia, eastern Peru and western Brazil.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2007.06.004 |pmid=17659760 |title=Morphological characterization of the venom secretory epidermal cells in the stinger of marine and freshwater stingrays |journal=Toxicon |volume=50 |issue=5 |pages=688–97 |year=2007 |last1=Pedroso |first1=Cátia M. |last2=Jared |first2=Carlos |last3=Charvet-Almeida |first3=Patricia |last4=Almeida |first4=Maurício P. |last5=Neto |first5=Domingos Garrone |last6=Lira |first6=Marcela S. |last7=Haddad |first7=Vidal |last8=Barbaro |first8=Katia C. |last9=Antoniazzi |first9=Marta M. |bibcode=2007Txcn...50..688P }}
External links
{{Commons category-inline}}
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Category:Freshwater fish of Argentina
Category:Freshwater stingrays of Brazil
Category:Freshwater fish of Peru
Category:Fish of the Amazon basin
Category:Fauna of the Pantanal
Category:Taxa named by Mariano N. Castex