Common Name
Brazilian Reef Stingray
Year Described
Gomes, Rosa & Gadig, 2000
Identification
A short-snouted species of Dasyatis with a broad rhomboidal disk. Eyes and spiracle large (interorbital distance about equal to eye diameter). Mouth small. Tips of pectoral fins narrowly rounded. Pre-orbital length much longer than distance between the spiracles, with slightly convex margins of snout. The dorsal surface has a line of 2-18 medial and one scapular denticle. Both dorsal and ventral finflaps well developed with ventral finfold twice as high as dorsal. Tail relatively short (<2 times DW) and whip-like with spine close to tail base. Pelvic fins protrude beyond pectorals.
Color
Dorsum olive to yellowish brown with yellowish to whitish marbled markings concentrated on the center of the disk. A patch of orange around each eye and spiracle. Tail white with dark finfolds and filamentous tip. Underside pale with semi-symmetrical random dark blotches.
Size
Maximum size to 31cm DW.
Habitat
Shallow coastal waters around reefs from 2-15m.
Range
Northeastern Brazil to Bahia state (Abrolhos Islands).
References
Gomes, U.L. , R.S. Rosa and O.B.F. Gadig. 2000. Dasyatis macrophthalma sp. n.: a new species of stingray (Chondrichthyes: Dasyatidae) from the southwestern Atlantic. Copeia 2000 (no. 2): 510-515.
Last, P. R., Naylor, G. J. P., & Manjaji-Matsumoto, B. M. 2016. A revised classification of the family Dasyatidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) based on new morphological and molecular insights. Zootaxa, 4139 (3): 345-368.
Rosa, R.S. , O.B.F. Gadig and U.L. Gomes. 2000. Dasyatis marianae: the correct name for a recently described stingray (Chondrichthyes: Dasyatidae) from the southwestern Atlantic. Copeia 2000 (no. 3): 889-890.
Other Notes
The name Dasyatis macrophthalma was mistakenly applied to this species and was corrected in Rosa et al. (2000).
Moved from Dasyatis to Hypanus based on morpological and molecular data (Last et al., 2016).