A new species of spotted freshwater stingray has been described from the Corantijn River drainage in Suriname.
Ricardo Rosa, Marcelo de Carvalho and Cristiane de Almeida Wanderley name the new stingray Potamotrygon boesemani after the late Dutch ichthyologist Marinus Boeseman for his contribution to South American ichthyology in the latest issue of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology.
Potamotrygon boesemani is a spotted species that is distinguished from other ocellated species (P. motoro, P. henlei and P. leopoldi) in having more intensely colored ocelli, which are usually yellow in the latter three species.
It is further distinguished from P. motoro by its darker dorsal background coloration, broader black contour of the dorsal ocelli, the more irregular form of the ocelli, and in having more teeth (up to 45 rows vs 23"32) in the upper jaw.
Potamotrygon boesemani further differs from P. henlei and P. leopoldi by the lack of ocelli on the tail.
It is further distinguished from P. ocellata in having irregular (vs. round) ocelli, more teeth (up to 45 rows vs 24) in the upper jaw, and more pectoral-fin radials (98"104 vs. 94).
No image of the new species could be obtained for publication.
For more information, see the paper: Rosa, RS, MR de Carvalho and C de Almeida Wanderley (2008) Potamotrygon boesemani (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes: Potamotrygonidae), a new species of Neotropical freshwater stingray from Surinam. Neotropical Ichthyology 6, pp. 1"8.