Details
Potamotrygon motoro
The ocellate river stingray is a round freshwater ray from South America. It searches river bottoms for small animals and blends into sand and mud with eyespot markings.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits rivers, lakes, and flooded forest waters of the Neotropics. Sandy or muddy shallows with leaf litter are often used.
Length 30-100 cm; weight 5 kg-15 kg. A circular flattened disc carries orange eyespots, and the long tail bears a defensive spine. The dorsal pattern camouflages it on the river bottom.
Diurnal and solitary, it moves close to the bottom. It may bury shallowly in sand and moves quickly when prey or danger is detected.
A carnivore, it eats mollusks, crustaceans, insect larvae, and small fishes. It sucks prey from sand and mud with the mouth pressed to the bottom.
Young develop inside the mother and are born as formed rays. During development they also use nutrient-rich uterine secretions.
It is Data Deficient, so careful protection of river habitats matters while distribution and population trends remain unclear.
