Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Monograph
Published: 2016-09-13
Page range: 1–63
Abstract views: 463
PDF downloaded: 247

Description of two extraordinary new species of freshwater stingrays of the genus Potamotrygon endemic to the rio Tapajós basin, Brazil (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae), with notes on other Tapajós stingrays

Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Trav. 14, no. 101, 05508-090, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Pisces Potamotrygon albimaculata sp. nov. Potamotrygon jabuti sp. nov. Neotropical region morphology systematics taxonomy Brazilian Shield endemism

Abstract

Stingrays from the rio Tapajós basin are reviewed based on material collected from its lower (i.e. from the mouth-lake to Itaituba), middle (from about the São Luiz rapids to the confluence of rios Juruena and Teles Pires), and upper (above the Juruena-Teles Pires confluence) segments. Two new species endemic to the mid and upper Tapajós, discovered long ago and common in the ornamental fish trade, are described. Potamotrygon albimaculata sp. nov. is part of the black stingray species group, and is diagnosed by its blackish brown dorsal disc color with numerous and generally evenly-spaced small whitish spots and faint ocelli, multiple rows of thorns broadly spread on dorsal and lateral tail, pelvic fins with broadly rounded apices, and two angular cartilages with the posterior far more slender but about as wide as the anterior angular. Potamotrygon jabuti sp. nov. is diagnosed by its marbled color pattern that undergoes remarkable change with growth as adults have elaborate designs of beige, golden to yellowish-orange spots or ocelli surrounded by a slender beige to golden mesh-like pattern, but neonates have simple, well-separated ocelli; this species also has a single to double row of tail thorns varying in their development, monognathic heterodonty with teeth of intermediate lateral rows of upper jaws larger and hexagonal, and two robust, more or less equally developed angular cartilages. Both species co-occur in the relatively fast-flowing mid and upper Tapajós basin, but mostly occupy different areas of the river, with P. albimaculata sp. nov. more abundant in its central troughs but foraging at its margins, whereas P. jabuti sp. nov. is also present in smaller streams over rocky, sandy and leafy substrates. The Tapajós basin includes at least seven stingray species, but additional species probably also occur. Potamotrygon motoro, P. orbignyi, P. humerosa, Potamotrygon sp., and Paratrygon aiereba are present in the lower Tapajós mouth-lake, which may also include Plesiotrygon and Heliotrygon species. In addition to the new species described herein, P. orbignyi and Paratrygon cf. aiereba occur in the mid and upper Tapajós, along with another form (Potamotrygon cf. scobina) known only from the region of the São Luiz rapids. Therefore, three additional new species may be present in the Tapajós basin, which has one of the most diverse stingray assemblages known together with the rios Negro and Tocantins-Araguaia.

 

References

  1. Albert, J.S., Petry, P. & Reis, R.E. (2011) Major biogeographic and phylogenetic patterns. In: Albert, J.S. & Reis, R.E. (Eds.), Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 21–57.

    Anon. (2014) RIMA – Relatório de Impacto Ambiental, AHE São Luiz do Tapajós. CNEC, São Paulo, 66 pp.

    Bigelow, H.B. & Schroeder, W.C. (1953) Sawfishes, Guitarfishes, Skates and Rays. In: Tee-Van, J., Breder, C.M., Parr, A.E., Schroeder, W.C. & Schultz, L.P. (Eds.), Fishes of the Western North Atlantic. Part 2. Memoirs of the Sears Memorial Foundation for Marine Research, Yale University, New Haven, pp. 1–588.

    Britski, H.A. & Garavello. J.C. (2005) Uma nova espécie de Leporinus Agassiz, 1829, da bacia Amazônica (Ostariophysi: Characiformes: Anostomidae). Comunicações do Museu de Ciências da PUCRS Série Zoologia, 18, 75–83.

    Britski, H.A. & Lima, F.C.T. (2008) A new species of Hemigrammus from the upper Rio Tapajós basin in Brazil (Teleostei: Characiformes: Characidae). Copeia, 2008 (3), 565–569.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1643/CI-07-134

    Buckup, P.A., Britto, M.R., Gomes, J.R., Birindelli, J.L.O., Lima, F.C.T., Maldonado-Ocampo, J.A., Zawadzki, C.H., Carvalho, F.R. de, Jerep, F.C., Chamon, C.C., Fries, L.C.C. de, Silva, L.V.V., Camargo, M., Lima, R.S., Bartoletti, R. & Wingert, J.M. (2011) Inventário da ictiofauna da ecorregião aquática Xingu-Tapajós. In: Castilhos, Z.C. & Buckup, P.A. (Eds.), Ecorregiões Aquáticas Xingu-Tapajós. Centro de Tecnologia Mineral/MCT, Rio de Janeiro, pp. 163–247.

    Carvalho, M.R. de (2016) Potamotrygon rex, a new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae) from the middle and upper rio Tocantins, Brazil, closely allied to Potamotrygon henlei (Castelnau, 1855). Zootaxa, 4150 (5): 537–565.
    http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4150.5.2

    Carvalho, M.R. de (2016) Potamotrygonidae. In: Last, P.R., White, W.T., Carvalho, M.R. de, Séret, B., Stehmann, M. & Naylor, G.J.P. (Eds.), Rays of the World. CSIRO Publications, Melbourne. [in press]

    Carvalho, M.R. de & Lovejoy, N.R. (2011) Morphology and phylogenetic relationships of a remarkable new genus and two new species of Neotropical freshwater stingrays from the Amazon basin (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae). Zootaxa, 2776, 13–48.

    Carvalho, M.R. de, Lovejoy, N.R. & Rosa, R.S. (2003) Potamotrygonidae. In: Reis, R.E., Ferraris Jr., C.J. & Kullander, S.O. (Eds.), Checklist of freshwater fishes of South and Central America. Editora da Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Porto Alegre, pp. 22–29

    Carvalho, M.R. de, Maisey, J.G. & Grande, L. (2004) Freshwater stingrays of the Green River Formation of Wyoming (Early Eocene), with the description of a new genus and species and an analysis of its phylogenetic relationships (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 284, 1–136.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1206/0003-0090(2004)284%3C0001:FSOTGR%3E2.0.CO;2

    Carvalho, M.R. de & Ragno, M. (2011) An unusual, dwarf new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray, Plesiotrygon nana, sp. nov., from the upper and mid Amazon basin: the second species of Plesiotrygon (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 51 (7), 101–138.

    Carvalho, M.R. de, Rosa, R.S. & Araújo, M.L.G. de (2016) A new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae) from the Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil: the smallest species of Potamotrygon. Zootaxa, 4107 (4), 566–586.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4107.4.5

    Carvalho, M.R. de, Sabaj-Perez, M. & 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.

    Carvalho, M.R. de & Shibuya, A. (2013) Potamotrygonidae. In: Queiroz, L.J. de, Torrente-Vilara, G., Ohara, W.M., Silva Pires, T.H. da, Zuanon, J. & Costa Doria, C.R. da (Eds.), Peixes do Rio Madeira. Vol. 1. Santo Antonio Energia, São Paulo, pp. 72−79.

    Carvalho, T.P. & Albert, J.S. (2011) The Amazon-Paraguay divide. In: Albert, J.S. & Reis, R.E. (Eds.), Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 193−202.

    Castelnau, F.L. (1855) Poissons. In: Animaux nouveaux or rares recueillis pendant l'expédition dans les parties centrales de l'Amérique du Sud, de Rio de Janeiro a Lima, et de Lima au Para; exécutée par ordre du gouvernement Français pendant les années 1843 a 1847. Part 7. Zoologie (2). P. Bertrand, Paris, pp. 1−112, 50 pls.

    Chapman, G.A. (1984) Establishing sediment criteria for chemicals − regulatory perspective. In: Dickson, K.L., Maki, A.W. & Brungs, W.A. (Eds.), Fate and Effects of Sediment-Bound Chemicals in Aquatic Systems: Proceedings of the Sixth Pellston Workshop, Florissant, Colorado. August 12–17, 1984. Revised Edition. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 355−377.

    Chu, Y.T. & Wen, C.M. (1979) A study of the lateral-line canals system and that of Lorenzini ampullae and tubules of Elasmobranchiate fishes of China. In: Monograph of Fishes of China. 2. Shangai Science and Technology Press, Shangai, pp. 117−132, 64 pls. [English translation]

    Compagno, L.J.V. & Roberts, T.R. (1982) Freshwater stingrays (Dasyatidae) of Southeast Asia and New Guinea, with description of a new species of Himantura and reports of unidentified species. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 7 (4), 321−339.

    Deynat, P. & Séret, B. (1996) Le revêntement cutané des raies (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii, Batoidea). I – Morphologie et arrangement des denticules cutanés. Annales des Sciences naturalles, Zoologie, 17 (2), 65−83.

    Dingerkus, G. & Uhler, L.D. (1977) Enzyme clearing of alcian blue stained whole small vertebrates for demostration of cartilage. Stain Technology, 52, 229–232.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10520297709116780

    Duméril, A.H.A. (1865) Histoire naturelle des poissons ou ichthyologie générale. Tome Premier. I. Elasmobranches. Plagiostomes et Holocéphales ou Chimères. Roret, Paris, 720 pp., Atlas: 8 pp., 14 pls.

    Eigenmann, C.H. (1910) Catalogue of the freshwater fishes of tropical and south temperate America. In: Scott, W.B. (Ed.), Reports of the Princeton University Expedition to Patagonia, 1896–1899. Vol. III. Zoölogy. Princeton University, Princeton & Schweizerbart, Stuttgart, pp. 375–511.

    Engelhardt, R. (1912) Über einige neue Selachier-Formen. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 39 (21/22), 643−648.

    Ewart, J.C. & Mitchell, H.C. (1892) On the lateral sense organs of elasmobranchs. II. The sensory canals of the common skate (Raja batis). Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 37 (1), 87−105, pl. 3.

    Fontenelle, J.P. (2013) Revisão taxonômica do complexo Potamortygon scobina Garman, 1913 (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae) com inferências biogeográficas. Unpublisher Master Thesis, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 242 pp.

    Fontenelle, J.P., Silva, J.P.C.B. da & Carvalho, M.R. de (2014) Potamotrygon limai, sp. nov., a new species of freshwater stingray from the upper Madeira River system, Amazon basin (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae). Zootaxa, 3765 (3), 249–268.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3765.3.2

    Fontenelle, J.P. & Carvalho, M.R. de (2016) Systematic implications of brain morphology in Potamotrygonidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes). Journal of Morphology, 277 (2), 252–263.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20493

    Fowler, H.W. (1948) Os peixes de água doce do Brasil. Volume I, Part I. Arquivos de Zoologia do Estado de São Paulo, 6, 1–204.

    Garman, S. (1877) On the pelvis and external sexual organs of selachians, with special reference to the new genera Potamotrygon and Disceus. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 19, 197–215.

    Garman, S. (1888) On the lateral canal system of the Selachia and Holocephala. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 17 (2), 57–119.

    Garman, S. (1913) The Plagiostomia (Sharks, Skates and Rays). Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, 36, 1–528, 77 pls.

    Goulding, M., Barthem, R. & Ferreira, E. (2003) The Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon. Smithsonian Books, Washington D.C., 253 pp.

    Günther, A. (1870) Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum. British Museum (Natural History), London, 549 pp.

    Günther, A. (1880) A contribution to the knowledge of the fish-fauna of the Rio de la Plata. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 5, 6, 7–15.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222938009458887

    Hubert, N. & Renno, J.-F. (2006) Historical biogeography of South American freshwater fishes. Journal of Biogeography, 33, 1414–1436.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01518.x

    Jordan, D.S. (1919) The genera of fishes, part III, from Guenther to Gill, 1859–1880, twenty-two years, with the accepted type of each. A contribution to the stability of scientific nomenclature. Leland Stanford Jr. University Publications, University Series, 39, 285–410.

    Kottelat, M. (2013) The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibiography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement No. 27, 1–663.

    Lesson, R.P. (1829) Description d'une pastenague fluviatile du Meta (pastenague de Humboldt). Bulletin Universel des Sciences et de l'Industrie, 2e Section, Bulletin des Sciences Naturelles et de Géologie, 16, 464–466.

    Lima, F.C.T. (2010) Diversidade, endemismo e biogeografia. Boletim da Sociedade Brasileira de Ictiologia, 98, 4–5.

    Lima, F.C.T., Britski, H.A. & Machado, F.A. (2007) A new Moenkhausia (Characiformes: Characidae) from central Brazil, with comments on the area relationship between the upper rio Tapajós and upper rio Paraguai systems. Aqua, 13 (2), 45–54.

    Lima, F.C.T. & Ribeiro, A.C. (2011) Continental-scale tectonic controls of biogeography and ecology. In: Albert, J.S. & Reis, R.E. (Eds.), Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes. University California Press, Berkeley, pp. 145–164.

    Loboda, T.S. (2010) Revisão taxonômica e morfológica de Potamortygon motoro (Müller & Henle, 1841) na bacia Amazônica (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae). Unpublished Master's Thesis, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 323 pp.

    Loboda, T.S. (2016) Revisão taxonômica e morfológica do gênero Paratrygon Duméril, 1865 (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae). Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 454 pp.

    Loboda, T.S. & Carvalho, M.R. de (2013) Systematic revision of the Potamotrygon motoro (Müller & Henle, 1841) species complex in the Paraná-Paraguay basin, with description of two new ocellated species (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae). Neotropical Ichthyology, 11 (4), 693–737.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1679-62252013000400001

    Miranda Ribeiro, A. de (1907) Fauna Braziliense. Peixes. Tomo II. Desmobranchios. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 14, 132–217, pls. 1–20.

    Miranda Ribeiro, A. de (1923) Fauna Brasiliense. Peixes. Vol. II. 1a Parte. Imprensa Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 50 pp.

    Müller, J. & Henle, F.G.J. (1841) Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen. Veit, Berlin, 200 pp.

    Ribeiro, A.C., Jacob, R,M., Silva, R.R.S.R., Lima, F.C.T., Ferreira, D.C., Ferreira, K.M., Mariguela, T.C., Pereira, L.H.G. & Oliveira, C. (2013) Distributions and phylogeographic data of rheophilic freshwater fishes provide evidences on the geographic extension of a central-brazilian amazonian palaeoplateau in the area of the present day Pantanal Wetland. Neotropical Ichthyology, 11 (2), 392–326.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s1679-62252013000200010

    Rosa, R.S. (1985) A systematic revision of the South American freshwater stingrays (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae). Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, 523 pp.

    Rosa, R.S., Carvalho, M.R. de & Wanderley, C.A. (2008) Potamotrygon boesemani (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae), a new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray from Surinam. Neotropical Ichthyology, 6, 1–8.

    Sabaj Pérez, M.H. (Ed.) (2014) Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology: an Online Reference. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Washington, D.C. Version 5.0. (22 September 2014). Electronically accessible. Available from: http://www.asih.org/ (accessed 10 August 2016)

    Sherborn, C.D. & Griffin, F.J. (1934) On the dates of publication of the natural history portions of Alcide d'Orbigny's 'Voyage Amérique méridionale'. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 10, 13 (73), 130–134.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933408654798

    Schomburgk, R.H. (1843) The Natural History of Fishes of Guiana, Part II. In: Jardine, W. (Ed.), The Naturalists' Library. Vol. 5. W.H. Lizars, Edinburgh, pp. 1–212.

    Silva, J.P.C.B da & Carvalho, M.R. de (2011a) A taxonomic and morphological redescription of Potamotrygon falkneri Castex & Maciel, 1963 (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae). Neotropical Ichthyology, 9 (1), 209–232.

    Silva, J.P.C.B da & Carvalho, M.R. de (2011b) A new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray of the genus Potamotrygon Garman, 1877 from the Río Madre de Díos, Peru (Chondrichthyes: Potamotrygonidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 51 (8), 1–17.

    Silva, J.P.C.B. da & Carvalho, M.R. de (2015) Systematics and morphology of Potamotrygon orbignyi (Castelnau, 1855) and allied forms (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae). Zootaxa, 3982 (1), 1–82.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3982.1.1

    Taniuchi, T. & Ishihara, H. (1990) Anatomical comparison of claspers of freshwater stingrays (Dasyatidae and Potamotrygonidae). Japanese Journal of Ichthyology, 37 (1), 10–16.

    Vaillant, L.L. (1880) Sur les raies recueillies dans l'Amazone par M. le Dr. Jobert. Bulletin de la Société philomathique de Paris, Series 7, 4, 251–252.

    Vari, R.P. (1988) The Curimatidae, a lowland Neotropical fish family (Pisces: Characiformes); distribution, endemism, and phylogenetic biogeography. In: Heyer, W.R & Vanzolini, P.E. (Eds.), Proceedings af a Workshop on Neotropical Distribution Patterns. Academia Brasileira de Ciências, Rio de Janeiro, pp. 343–377.

    Vari, R.P. & Calegari, B.B. (2014) New species of the catfish genus Tatia (Siluriformes: Auchenipteridae) from the rio Teles Pires, upper rio Tapajós basin, Brazil. Neotropical Ichthyology, 12 (4), 667–674.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1982-0224-20130193