Chupare stingray

{{Short description|Species of cartilaginous fish}} {{Speciesbox | name = Chupare stingray | image = Himantura schmardae xelha.jpg | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 14 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Dulvy, N.K. |author2=Charvet, P. |author3=Pollom, R. |author4=Avalos, C. |author5=Blanco-Parra, MP, Briones Bell-lloch, A. |author6=Cardenosa, D. |author7=Derrick, D. |author8=Espinoza, E. |author9=Mejía-Falla, P.A. |author10=Morales-Saldaña, J.M. |author11=Naranjo-Elizondo, B. |author12=Navia, A.F. |author13=Simpson, N.J. |author14=Schneider, E.V.C. |date=2021 |title=''Styracura schmardae'' |volume=2021 |article-number=e.T60161A3090840 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T60161A3090840.en |access-date=14 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Styracura schmardae | authority = (Werner, 1904) | synonyms = ''Himantura schmardae'' (Werner, 1904) ''Trygon schmardae'' Werner, 1904 }}

The '''chupare stingray''' or '''Caribbean whiptail stingray''' ('''''Styracura schmardae''''') is a species of stingray in the family Potamotrygonidae, found in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Campeche to Brazil, including the Antilles.<ref name="iucn status 14 November 2021" /><ref name="Cavalho2016">{{cite journal |author1=Carvalho, M.R.d. |author2=Loboda, T.S. |author3=Silva, J.P.C.B.d. |year=2016 |title=A new subfamily, Styracurinae, and new genus, Styracura, for Himantura schmardae (Werner, 1904) and Himantura pacifica (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941) (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4075 |issue=3 |pages=201–221 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4175.3.1 |pmid=27811760}}</ref> The presence of this species in the Gulf of Mexico has not been confirmed.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sharks, Skates, and Rays of the Gulf of Mexico: a Field Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/sharksskatesrays0000pars |url-access=registration |author=Parsons, G.R. |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2006 |isbn=1-57806-827-4}}</ref> It also occurs in the Bahamas.<ref>{{cite book |title=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences (Vol. 143) |year=1991 |publisher=Academy of Natural Sciences |isbn=1-4379-5542-8}}</ref> It usually inhabits sandy substrates, sometimes near coral reefs, and is an infrequent visitor to the Amazon River estuary. Leonard Compagno doubted the taxonomic validity of this species in his 1999 ''Checklist of Living Elasmobranchs''.<ref name="fishbase">{{FishBase |genus=Himantura |species=schmardae |month=March |year=2009}}</ref>

==Description== This is a large species with a maximum reported disk width of two meters (6.6 ft).<ref name="fishbase"/> It has an oval pectoral fin disk with a long, broad-angled snout; the front margin of the disk is almost straight. The mouth is arched with indentations at the symphysis and five papillae on the floor. The teeth have elliptical bases and flattened cusps with a scallop-edged central depression. The upper jaw contains 28-36 rows of teeth. The tail is relatively short and slender, without fin folds but having subtle ventral and lateral ridges towards the base. There is a single saw-toothed spine located on the latter half of the tail. The upper surface of the body and tail are covered with small tubercles; there are large tubercles with four radiating ridges each on the shoulder region. The coloration is dark brown to olive above and yellowish white below, darkening to blackish towards the tip of the tail.<ref name="mceachran and fechhelm">{{cite book |title=Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes |author1=McEachran, J.D. |author2=Fechhelm, J.D. |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-292-75206-7}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== The chupare stingray is believed to be the sister species of the Pacific chupare (''S. pacifica''), which is morphologically similar and shares the four-ridged shoulder tubercles. These two species are together known as the "amphi-American ''Himantura''". Based on the details of the mandibular musculature and articulation, the amphi-American ''Himantura'' are hypothesized to be the closest relatives of the river stingrays (family Potamotrygonidae), rather than to Indo-Pacific ''Himantura'' species.<ref name="lovejoy"/> This has given rise to the theory that both the amphi-American ''Himantura'' and the river stingrays are descended from euryhaline ancestors living along the northern coast of South America prior to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. This interpretation was initially controversial, as parasitological evidence suggests that the river stingrays are most closely related to Pacific round rays in the genus ''Urobatis''.<ref name="lovejoy">{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1996.tb02189.x |title=Systematics of myliobatoid elasmobranchs: with emphasis on the phylogeny and historical biogeography of neotropical freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygonidae: Rajiformes) |author=Lovejoy, N.R. |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |year=1996 |volume=117 |issue=3 |pages=207–257|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2016, a major review of "''Himantura''" based on morphology and molecular evidence confirmed the position of the chupare stingray, and it was moved to the genus ''Styracura'' (together with the Pacific chupare) in the family Potamotrygonidae.<ref name="Cavalho2016"/><ref name="Last2016">{{cite journal |author1=Last, P.R. |author2=Naylor, G.J. |author3=Manjaji-Matsumoto, B.M. |year=2016 |title=A revised classification of the family Dasyatidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) based on new morphological and molecular insights |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4139 |issue=3 |pages=345–368 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4139.3.2 |pmid=27470808}}</ref>

==Behavior and fishing== This species is not common and almost nothing is known of its biology or habits.<ref name="iucn status 14 November 2021" /> It is reported to be ovoviviparous, like other stingrays.<ref name="fishbase"/> Known parasites of this species include the nematode ''Echinocephalus daileyi'' and the cestode ''Anindobothrium anacolum''.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/3280568 |title=A new species of ''Echinocephalus'' (Nematoda: Gnathostomidae) from neotropical stingrays with comments on ''E. diazi'' |jstor=3280568 |author=Deardorff, T.L. |author2=Brooks, D.R. |author3=Thorson, T.B. |name-list-style=amp |journal=The Journal of Parasitology |volume=67 |issue=3 |date=Jun 1981 |pages=433–439|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1273&context=parasitologyfacpubs |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[0666:ANGETI]2.0.CO;2 |title=''Anindobothrium'' N. Gen. (Eucestoda: Tetraphyllidea) Inhabiting Marine and Freshwater Potamotrygonid Stingrays |author=Marques, F.P.L. |author2=Brooks, D.R. |author3=Lasso, C.A. |name-list-style=amp |journal=Journal of Parasitology |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=666–672 |year=2001 |pmid=11426733|s2cid=18975689 |url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/258 }}</ref> The chupare stingray is taken as bycatch by artisanal and commercial fisheries using nets and hook-and-line, and also serves as a subsistence food source.<ref name="iucn status 14 November 2021" /> In addition to its meat, which is marketed salted, this species is also used to produce gelatin and oil.<ref name="fishbase"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Potamotrygonidae Category:Fish of Cuba Category:Fish of the Dominican Republic Category:Fish of the Caribbean Category:Taxa named by Franz Werner Category:Fish described in 1904 Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot