Chupare stingray
| Chupare stingray | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Order: | Myliobatiformes |
| Family: | Potamotrygonidae |
| Genus: | Styracura |
| Species: | S. schmardae |
| Binomial name | |
| Styracura schmardae (Werner, 1904) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Himantura 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. The presence of this species in the Gulf of Mexico has not been confirmed. It also occurs in the Bahamas. 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.