The Brazilian cownose ray (Rhinoptera brasiliensis), also commonly called the Ticon cownose ray, is a species of fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 in the Rhinopteridae family. It is an endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

, endemic to the coasts of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are shallow sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

s, estuarine waters, and intertidal flats.

Morphology

Males tend to range in size from 78 to 91 cm disc width (DW) with a brown back and white or light yellow belly. Females are larger, ranging from 77 to 102 cm DW with similar coloring. The Ticon Cownose Ray very closely resembles its cousin the Cownose ray

Cownose ray

The cownose ray is a species of eagle ray found throughout a large part of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England, USA to southern Brazil. Cownose rays grow rapidly, and male rays often reach about in width and weigh . Females typically reach in width and weigh .-Gestation:The...

 (Rhinoptera bonasus) in both size and coloring. So close is the similarity that the only way to differentiate the two is by the number of teeth. R. Brasiliensis have a broader mouth allowing for three central rows of broad teeth as opposed to R. Bonasus one central row.

Reproduction

The Brazilian cownose ray is ovoviviparous with the embryo developing in an egg kept within the female. The female only carries one embryo at a time. This low fecundity leads to a low species resiliency with a minimum population doubling time of 4.5 to 14 years.

Range and Habitat

This species is endemic to an 1800 ft, restricted stretch of coastal shelf between Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 and Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...

, Brazil. The ray migrates to the southern 700 km of its range during the summer months, and is found in the shallow coastal waters just off Rio Grande do Sul.