New Species: Two New Freshwater Stingrays Identified
Posted by Ryan on April 4th, 2011
An entire new genus has been identified with the discovery of two barb-free freshwater stingrays fished out of a river deep in the Amazon near Iquitos, Peru. Heliotrygon gomesi and Heliotrygon rosai can grow up to 1/2 a meter long and have eyes adapted for living at murky depths. The scientist speculate that these rays lost their ability to sting because they do not contend with any serious predators. Biologist Nathan Lovejoy had this to say about the find:
“The most important thing this discovery tells us is that there are quite likely to be other large fishes in the Amazon yet to be discovered and described.”
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