Black devil stingray

Potamotrygon leopoldi

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–84°F (20–29°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 23.6 in (60 cm)
Minimum tank: 436 gal (1,650 L)
Temperament: Aggressive
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Very rare
Origin: Brazil
Family: Potamotrygonidae

Overview

This is a solitary, aggressive, advanced-only animal, and the venomous tail spine makes careless handling genuinely dangerous. It stays on the bottom, hunting fish, crustaceans, and snails. It needs a very large tank with sand, strong flow, and spotless water, since rays are sensitive to nitrate and poor quality. Keep water at 20 to 29 C and pH 6 to 7.5, and feed meaty foods like shrimp, fish, and earthworms.

In the wild

Black devil stingrays come from the Xingu River basin in Brazil, in clear, fast water over sand and rock with submerged wood. They are bottom dwellers that bury into open sand, so they need a large footprint of fine sand and no sharp decor. The space demand is huge: this fish needs something in the range of 1,650 liters, which is a custom build or a pond, not a standard aquarium.

Good to know

This is a freshwater stingray in the family Potamotrygonidae, all of which are South American river rays. It reaches about 60 cm across the disc and is heavy-bodied, marked black with white spots. It gives live birth to a small number of well-developed pups. The species is listed as Vulnerable, with collection and habitat loss the main pressures.

Did you know

Freshwater rays can find buried prey without seeing it. Tiny pores around the mouth, called the ampullae of Lorenzini, pick up the faint electrical signals living animals give off, so the ray can pin down a fish hidden under the sand.