Long-tailed river stingray
Encyclopedia
The long-tailed river stingray or antenna ray, Plesiotrygon iwamae, is a species
of freshwater stingray in the family
Potamotrygonidae
.
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Characteristic features are a long filiform tail, reduced eyes, and a low number of pectoral-fin radials.
Their prey includes worm
s, crustacean
s, mollusks, and small bottom fish (such as small catfish
). They can detect electrical and chemical signals from prey in mud and sand.
The species was described in 1987 by Hugo P. Castello from Museu de Zoologia, University of São Paulo
. Previously misidentified, or unidentified, specimens were then found in other museums.
This fish seldom appears in the aquarium trade.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of freshwater stingray in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Potamotrygonidae
Potamotrygonidae
River stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the Potamotrygonidae family .They are native to northern, central and eastern South America, living in rivers that drain into the Caribbean, and into the Atlantic as far south as the Río de la Plata in Argentina...
.
Their prey includes worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s, crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, mollusks, and small bottom fish (such as small catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
). They can detect electrical and chemical signals from prey in mud and sand.
The species was described in 1987 by Hugo P. Castello from Museu de Zoologia, University of São Paulo
University of São Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...
. Previously misidentified, or unidentified, specimens were then found in other museums.
This fish seldom appears in the aquarium trade.