Groovebelly stingray facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Groovebelly stingray |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Dasyatis
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| Species: |
hypostigma
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The groovebelly stingray (Dasyatis hypostigma) is a type of stingray found in the family Dasyatidae. Fishermen sometimes call it the butter stingray. You can find this ray living on sandy or muddy ocean bottoms in shallow waters off southern Brazil. It probably also lives near Uruguay and Argentina.
This stingray has a special W-shaped groove on its belly, right behind its last pair of gill slits. Most groovebelly stingrays have very smooth skin. Only the very largest ones might have tiny bumps. This ray can grow up to about 65 centimeters (25 inches) wide. Female groovebelly stingrays give birth to live young, usually two at a time. The biggest danger to these stingrays is getting caught by accident in shrimp trawler nets. Losing their natural living places is also a problem.
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How the Groovebelly Stingray Got Its Name
Scientists Hugo Santos and Marcelo de Carvalho officially described the groovebelly stingray in 2004. They named it Dasyatis hypostigma. The name comes from Greek words: hypo means "ventral" (which is the belly side), and stigma means "mark." So, its name means "belly mark," referring to the special W-shaped groove on its underside.
Before 2004, people often confused this stingray with other types, like the bluntnose stingray or the common stingray. But those other stingrays don't actually live in the same area.
Where Groovebelly Stingrays Live
The groovebelly stingray lives along the coast of southern Brazil. It can be found from Espírito Santo all the way down to Rio Grande do Sul. It might even live further north near Bahia and as far south as Mar del Plata, Argentina.
These stingrays prefer shallow waters close to shore, usually between 5 to 40 meters (16 to 130 feet) deep. However, they have been seen as deep as 80 meters (260 feet). They like to live on sandy or muddy ocean floors. Sometimes, they even swim into estuaries, which are places where rivers meet the sea.
What Groovebelly Stingrays Look Like
The groovebelly stingray has a body shaped like a diamond. Its body is a bit wider than it is long. The front edges of its body are almost straight, and its snout (nose) sticks out only a little bit.
Its eyes are big and stick out, and right behind them are wide, angled holes called spiracles. It has a small flap of skin between its nostrils. The mouth is small, and the lower jaw is curved like a bow. This stingray has many rows of teeth, about 37 to 46 on the top and 43 to 50 on the bottom. Young stingrays and females have blunt teeth. But adult males have thinner, sharper teeth in the middle of their mouths.
A very special feature of this stingray is the W-shaped groove on its underside. This groove is located behind its fifth pair of gill slits. Only one other stingray, the pitted stingray, has this same feature.
The tail of the groovebelly stingray is long and thin, like a whip. It can be about one and a half times longer than its body. It usually has one (sometimes two) stinging spines on top of its tail. These spines have jagged edges. There are also skin folds along the top and bottom of the tail behind the spine. The top fold is thicker but shorter than the bottom fold.
Most groovebelly stingrays have completely smooth skin. This helps tell them apart from the pitted stingray, which has spines on its back and tail. However, the largest known female groovebelly stingray had tiny, scattered bumps on its back near the tail. The top of the stingray is yellowish to greenish brown, and it gets more reddish near the edges of its body. Its underside is white, but the edges of its fins are dark. The tail folds are black.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Like other stingrays, the groovebelly stingray gives birth to live young. This process is called aplacental viviparous. This means the baby stingrays hatch from eggs inside their mother's body. They first get food from a yolk sac. Later, the mother provides them with a special "uterine milk" that they absorb through their spiracles.
Female groovebelly stingrays have only one working uterus, which is on the left side. So far, scientists have only studied one pregnant female. She had two baby stingrays inside her, each about 55 to 56 millimeters (2.2 inches) long. They were still in the early stages of growing.
Groovebelly Stingrays and People
The groovebelly stingray is often caught by accident. This happens when people are fishing for shrimp using large nets that drag along the bottom of the ocean. This is called bycatch. It happens a lot off the coasts of Brazilian states like Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.
Besides being caught in fishing nets, these stingrays can also be harmed when their living places are damaged by coastal building or water pollution. Because of these threats, the groovebelly stingray is currently listed as an Endangered species.
