A beautiful freshwater stingray from Asia.

I hope I can broaden your horizons on stingrays. You don’t have have one from South America there are other options.

The Roughback Stingray (Himantura kittipongi) is a rare species of freshwater stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found over sandy bottoms in the Mae Klong and Chao Phraya rivers and Mekong basin of Thailand.

Unfortunately there are not a lot of available pictures of this species on the web so we have to make do with these I found for certain is the right specimen.

The Himantura kittipongi freshwater stingray and was first observed in 2004 but was only confirmed as a new species by researchers from WWF-Thailand and the US-based Smithsonian Institute in 2006.

Growing to no more than, the largest female ever recorded, 29 cm or (11 in) across. So this is a small ray and it has an oval pectoral fin disc and a whip-like tail without fin folds. It closely resembles the White-edge Freshwater Whip-ray, (H. signifer) in appearance, but can be distinguished by its coloration. Light gray to dark orange-brown above and white below with a dark band along the lateral margins. Another identifying feature is a “pearl-organ” (enlarged dermal denticle) at the center of the back, found in individuals of all ages. All of the original specimens of the Roughback Stingray were found with extensive wounds to the fins and tail. Most likely bites from Pufferfish that co-excites where this species is found.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as ENDANGERED, citing the extensive habitat degradation and heavy fishing pressure within its limited range.

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