Family Dasyatidae Jordan & Gilbert 1879 (Fig. 2C). Whiptail Stingrays; Rayas Batonas, Chupares, Rayas de Espina, Rayas Látigo

Description: Body strongly depressed; anterior edge of the greatly enlarged pectoral fins attached to the sides of the head via the antorbital cartilage; up to 200 cm in length; disc not more than 1.3 times as broad as long; eyes and spiracles on dorsal surface; gill openings ventral; pelvic fins modified as copulatory organs in males; anal fin absent; tail long (distance from cloaca to tip much longer than disc width), very slender to whip-like, without dorsal fin but with one or more long, poisonous spines; caudal fin absent (Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine (continental and insular shelves and uppermost slopes, few species oceanic), brackish and freshwater; tropical to warm temperate, Atlantic (including the Mediterranean Sea), Indian and Pacific oceans (Nelson et al. 2016). One genus and one species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.