Pteroplatytrygon Fowler, 1910

Last, Peter R., Naylor, Gavin J. P. & Manjaji-Matsumoto, B. Mabel, 2016, A revised classification of the family Dasyatidae (Chondrichthyes: Myliobatiformes) based on new morphological and molecular insights, Zootaxa 4139 (3), pp. 345-368 : 356

Genus Pteroplatytrygon Fowler, 1910

Pteroplatytrygon (subgenus of Dasyatis ) Fowler, 1910:474. Type species Trygon violacea Bonaparte, 1832 ; by original designation and also monotypic.

Definition. Medium-sized dasyatid (adults to 80 cm DW) characterised by the following: very robust, broadly cone-shaped disc with pectoral-fin apex angular; snout short and rounded (1.1–1.3 times combined orbit and spiracle length); eye very small and sunken; nasal curtain skirt shaped; mouth very narrow, with numerous oral papillae; tail moderately elongate (length>2 times DW), rather broad-based and depressed anteriorly, very strongly tapered at caudal sting then becoming filamentous; pelvic fins large, protruding well beyond disc, with long inner margins; dorsal fold rudimentary or absent; ventral fold low with a long base; caudal sting moderately well back on tail (distance from pectoral-fin insertion to caudal-sting base ~1.6 times interspiracular width); dense median row of small thorns and small denticles extending from nape onto tail; skin otherwise smooth or with sparse denticles; denticle band and scapular thorns absent; dorsal and ventral surfaces similarly plain and dark; marine, cosmopolitan.

Species. P. violacea (Bonaparte, 1832) .

Remarks. Frequently assigned to Dasyatis (e.g. Krefft & Stehmann, 1973; Rosenberger, 2001), Pteroplatytrygon violacea (Bonaparte, 1832) is a pelagic stingray with a body shape and coloration that is unique within the family. Molecular data suggest it is not monophyletic with newly defined Dasyatis , but might be monophyletic when assigned to Bathytoshia ( Fig. 1). To avoid creating further confusion, this monotypic genus is retained provisionally pending more thorough morphological and molecular investigations.