Largespot river stingray
(Potamotrygon falkneri)
Image source: Jo's Animal Database
General data
This species is densely spotted above, but the exact color and pattern are very variable. One of these types was initially described as a separate species P. castexi and another as P. menchacai. Intermediates between the various patterns are common, and all represent variants of the species P. falkneri.
It reaches a disc width of up to 52 cm (20 in) and a total length, including tail, up to 89 cm (35 in).
This species has a disjunct distribution with the best-known population found throughout much of the Paraná—Paraguay River basin in southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.[Initially it did not occur in the upper Paraná basin above the Guaíra Falls, but these disappeared after the construction of the Itaipu Dam, allowing this species (and several others) to spread.
The other main distribution of P. falkneri is in the upper Amazon Basin: Madre de Díos, Guaporé, Beni, Marañón and Solimões Rivers in Bolivia, eastern Peru and western Brazil.
