Urogymnus polylepis, Giant freshwater whipray : fisheries, aquaculture, aquarium

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Urogymnus polylepis (Bleeker, 1852)

Giant freshwater whipray
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Urogymnus polylepis
Picture by Jean-Francois Helias / Fishing Adventures Thailand

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Myliobatiformes (Stingrays) > Dasyatidae (Stingrays) > Urogymninae
Etymology: Urogymnus: Greek, oura = tail + Greek, gymnos = naked (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Bleeker.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; potamodromous (Ref. 51243). Tropical; 25°N - 20°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Asia and Oceania: Mekong and Chao Phraya basins; also from eastern Borneo, New Guinea and northern Australia.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 110 - ? cm
Max length : 240 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 27732); max. published weight: 600.0 kg (Ref. 6871)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0. Absence of ventral and dorsal skin folds on the tail, and the broad greyish to blackish marginal band on the ventral surface of the disc. The dorsal surface of the disc is brown (Ref. 27732). Spiral valve with 21 turns; dorsal surface with uniform brown or grey coloration (Ref. 12693). Lacking caudal fin; with long whip-like tail (Ref. 43281).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits sandy bottoms in estuaries and large rivers (Ref. 12693). Feeds on benthic invertebrates (Ref. 12693) and fishes (Ref. 32457). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). Caught occasionally by demersal gillnet and longline fisheries operating in riverine and estuarine areas. Utilized for its meat and possibly its cartilage (Ref.58048). Marketed fresh, with large individuals being sold in cut pieces by the kilogram (Ref. 12693). Size reaches to about 500 cm TL. Threatened due to over harvesting and pollution (Ref. 58490).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Exhibit ovoviparity (aplacental viviparity), with embryos feeding initially on yolk, then receiving additional nourishment from the mother by indirect absorption of uterine fluid enriched with mucus, fat or protein through specialised structures (Ref. 50449). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205). Young are born at about 30 cm disc width (Ref. 6871).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : McEachran, John | Collaborators

Rainboth, W.J., 1996. Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. FAO, Rome, 265 p. (Ref. 12693)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (A2bcd); Date assessed: 25 January 2021

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: experimental; aquarium: potential
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00832 (0.00366 - 0.01891), b=3.10 (2.90 - 3.30), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.5   ±0.37 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Assuming Fec<10).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.