Ocellate river stingray

Peacock stingrays ( Potamotrygon motoro )

The Peacock stingrays ( Potamotrygon motoro ) belongs to the family of freshwater stingrays.

Appearance

The birds-eye stingray, up to 80 cm in diameter are large. The males have the pelvic fins finger strong thickening, generally stay much smaller and are contrasting colored than the females.

They have a poisonous sting in the tail, whose venom is very dangerous; even scratches are painful. If you step on a buried in the sand rays, he beats his tail around. This results in South America every year to thousands of accidents, which can be fatal for small children. For this reason they are in the population more feared than the piranha.

Habitat

Their habitat are the major rivers of South America, especially the Amazon and Orinoco.

Way of life

The rays are sorted by age tag and / or nocturnal and burrow through the river bottom for worms, small crustaceans, snails, clams, and fish.

At night they are looking at flat riparian areas and buried until the next morning. Young Rays often bury themselves during the day and go only under cover of dusk in search of food.

Reproduction

After a gestation period of about three to four months to bring the viviparous rays 1-12 fully developed boy with a body diameter of 6-17 cm to the world.

Endangering

The Peacock stingrays be speared when they are accessible in shallow water. But they are also caught with lines for commercial purposes. Young specimens are collected for the ornamental fish trade. Perhaps the greatest threat to this species is derived from the degradation of habitats, created by the damming of the Rio Parana system in favor of navigation, hydroelectric power plants and for the investment of many ports along the river.

The World Conservation Union IUCN represents the peacock stingray in the Red List of endangered species, but can lack of sufficient data (Data Deficient ) do not specify detailed assessment of the hazard.