Urogymnus polylepis

(Bleeker, 1852)

Vernacular names
English : Giant freshwater whipray
French : Raie pastenague géante d’eau douce

Classification
Class : Elasmobranchii
Order : Myliobatiformes
Family : Dasyatidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
The species reaches a total length of 5 m, a disk width of 3 m and weight of 600 kg. Round disk with elongated triangular snout. No tail fin but long thin tail. Coloration uniformly brown with clear disk edge. Clear belly with broad dark edge.

Range and habitat
The species occurs in southeast Asia, in the Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar. Also on Borneo and New Guinea. Lives in estuaries and large slow-moving rivers with sandy bottoms.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : ENDANGERED
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species more and more threatened by pollution and unsustainable hunting levels. Local extinctions occurring in many parts of its range.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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