Pacific Chupare Stingray: Styracura pacifica

Family: Potamotrygonidae

Common names

Pacific Chupare Stingray, Pacific Whiptail Stingray.

Binomial

Styracura pacifica.

Synonyms

Dasyatis pacificus, Himantura pacifica.

Identification

A medium sized stingray with a sub-circular disc that is slightly wider than long. Small lobe present on tip of snout. Anterior margins of disc almost straight, apices broadly rounded. Head broad. Eyes slightly protruding. Spiracles large and rhomboidal, positioned obliquely. Nasal curtain broad, wider posteriorly, with a fringed posterior margin. Mouth with 5 oral papillae. Labial furrows short.
Disc with evenly distributed, large denticles. Denticles on midline and shoulders with 4 basal rays; quadriradiate. A large pearl-shaped thorn is sometimes present on each shoulder. Thorns on tip of tail small and sharp. Pelvic fin posterior margins protrude beyond disc. Tail long, broad based, tapering gently to dorsal spine, then whiplike to tip. Tail with distinct lateral ridges and a low ventral finfold near base. Caudal sting long and slender, origin slightly posterior of mid tail.

Colour

Dorsum dark brown without markings. Disc darker towards disc margins, pelvic fins, and tail. Ventrum creamy-white with dark margins. Tail dark ventrally.

Size

Maximum disc width recorded at 89cm but likely grows much larger.

Pacific Chupare Stingray, Styracura pacifica. aka Pacific whiptail stingray. Playa del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Eastern Pacific.

Conservation Status

VULNERABLE

The Pacific Chupare (Styracura pacifica) is captured in largely unmanaged small-scale gillnet and longline fisheries and in commercial shrimp trawl fisheries. It is either retained for local consumption or discarded dead. Fishing throughout its range is intense and largely unmanaged.

Due to its limited reproductive productivity, the Pacific chupare is unable to cope with the high levels of fishing pressure to which it is subjected.

Furthermore, aquaculture and coastal development has led to large sections of habitat loss due to mangrove clearing, especially in Panama and Columbia (68% and 57% respectively). It is estimated that the Pacific Chupare has undergone a population reduction of 30–49% over the last 45 years.

Habitat

Tropical to subtemperate inshore environments; mangroves, lagoons, and estuaries as well as sandy slopes and bays.

Distribution

Tropical/subtemperate Eastern Pacific. From Oaxaca in Mexico to Colombia. Also recorded in the Galapagos Islands.

Reproduction

Viviparous. Litter size unknown.

Diet

Diet unknown. I have watched a Pacific chupare ray excavating a large depression on a sandy slope at 21m, inferring that this species feeds on sessile invertebrates.

Behavior

Poorly known. Utilizes estuaries and mangroves as nursery areas.
In Guanacaste, Costa Rica, I encountered two Chupare rays in close proximity to each other at 21m; one was feeding.

Reaction to divers

Relatively easy to approach. The only time I encountered this species, it moved away but swam slow enough for me to take a series of images before it outpaced me.

Diving logistics

The Pacific chupare stingray is rarely encountered. I found two animals together on a sandy slope near Ocotal in Costa Rica. On subsequent dives in the same area, I did not see any other Chupares but I found large feeding depressions that matched the one created by the ray I encountered. So, perhaps this is a fairly worthwhile spot to look for them.

They are known to inhabit shallow mangroves but access and poor visibility, make this a difficult place to look for them.