Genus · Stingrays

Heliotrygon

Heliotrygon is a genus with 2 species in this atlas, catalogued in the Stingrays section, recorded from Brazil and Peru. Adult sizes run from 12 in to 31.5 in. Every species below links to a full researched profile.

Species in atlas
2
Adult sizes
12–31.5 in
IUCN assessed
2 of 2 · 2 threatened
Recorded from
2 countries

About the genus

Heliotrygon is a genus of freshwater stingrays in the family Potamotrygonidae, found in the deep river channels of the Amazon basin in Brazil and Peru. Its species stand apart from most other Potamotrygonidae by disc shape alone: an almost perfectly circular, flattened 'pancake' body with little or no externally visible tail spine, an adaptation to a life spent well below the shallow sandy margins that shallow-water ray genera prefer. Heliotrygon gomesi and Heliotrygon rosai range from around 12–31.5 in across, and both were only formally described in the last couple of decades, a reminder of how little-studied the deep river channels of the western Amazon remain.

Because they live in deep water rather than the accessible shallows worked by ray collectors, Heliotrygon species have essentially no established presence in the aquarium trade, unlike some of the more familiar shallow-water Potamotrygon rays. Both species are currently assessed Vulnerable, a status that reflects the general pressures facing Amazonian freshwater stingrays - habitat disturbance, incidental bycatch, and collection for the ornamental ray trade - layered onto the genus's naturally restricted, poorly surveyed range.

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable · 2

The 2 species

Every Heliotrygon recorded in this atlas. Each card links to a full researched profile — distribution, water parameters, and aquarium care, cited to primary sources.

Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011

Disc ray, Round river stingray

12 in DW · VU

Carvalho & Lovejoy, 2011

Rosa's round ray, Round river stingray

31.5 in DW · VU

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How to cite

Aquarist Atlas (2026). Genus Heliotrygon. Aquarist Atlas. https://www.aquaristatlas.com/heliotrygon/

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