Rays Codexery

Pearl stingray

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Pearl stingray

Scott Loarie · via Wikipedia: Pearl stingray · CC BY 2.0

The little-known stingray species Fontitrygon margaritella, called the pearl stingray, inhabits shallow coastal waters between Mauritania and Angola.[1] This ray reaches a maximum width of 30 cm and possesses a rounded pectoral fin disc that ends in a pointed snout.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. OrderMyliobatiformes
  6. FamilyDasyatidae
  7. GenusFontitrygon
  8. SpeciesFontitrygon margaritella

Named by (Compagno & T. R. Roberts, 1984)

Close relatives

Other species of Fontitrygon with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Pearl stingray (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 1042839 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Near Threatened (NT)

  1. LC
  2. NT▲ this species
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2021

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Pearl stingray and a personA 0.3 m long pearl stingray drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.3 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.3 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Pearl stingray

Where the pearl stingray has been recorded

Where the pearl stingray has been recorded12 mapped locations from 1,017 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Ras NouadhibouRas Nouadhibou

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (1,017 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 31 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Its range extends from Cape Blanc in Mauritania to Angola.[2] There is a medium-sized oval pearl spine in the middle of the back.[3] Adults over 13 to 14 cm across gain a band of small dermal denticles covering the median third of the disc.[3] Reproduction in this species is aplacental viviparous; females are thought to give birth to litters containing 1 to 3 young.[2]

Individuals reach sexual maturity when their disc width measures approximately 20 cm.[2]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists Fontitrygon margaritella as an accepted species in the family Dasyatidae.[4] GBIF holds 1,065 occurrence records for this taxon as of October 2026.[5] The species was described by Compagno and Roberts in 1984.[4][5]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Pearl stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Pearl stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jabado, R.W., "Fontitrygon margaritella", 2021; Stiassny, M.L.J., "Poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres de basse Guinée, ouest de l'Afrique centrale (Volume 2)", IRD Editions, 2008, p. 163 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Pearl stingray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Marine and freshwater stingrays (Dasyatidae) of West Africa, with description of a new species", Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, December 11, 1984, p. 283–300; Stiassny, M.L.J., "Poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres de basse Guinée, ouest de l'Afrique centrale (Volume 2)", IRD Editions, 2008, p. 163; ; Stiassny, M.L.J., "Poissons d'eaux douces et saumâtres de basse Guinée, ouest de l'Afrique centrale (Volume 2)", IRD Editions, 2008, p. 163 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. World Register of Marine Species, Fontitrygon margaritella (AphiaID 1042839). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  5. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Fontitrygon margaritella (taxon key 9267839). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pearl stingray (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Dasyatidae)

Pale-edged stingray (Telatrygon zugei) Telatrygon zugei, Atlantic stingray Hypanus sabinus, Black-spotted whipray Maculabatis astra

More in Rays

Pincushion raySharpsnout stingrayBennett's stingrayBlackish stingrayChinese stingrayDwarf black stingrayEstuary stingrayIzu stingrayMekong freshwater stingrayRed stingrayYantai stingrayBlackedge whipray

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was the pearl stingray first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1984.

2. Who first scientifically described the pearl stingray?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Leonard Compagno.

3. What is the scientific name of the pearl stingray?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Fontitrygon margaritella.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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