About Styracura pacifica (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941)
The Pacific chupare, also called the Pacific whiptail stingray with the scientific name Styracura pacifica, is a stingray species belonging to the family Potamotrygonidae. This species has been recorded off the Pacific coast of Central America, ranging from Oaxaca, Mexico to Costa Rica, and has also been found around the Galapagos Islands. It typically inhabits shallow water on soft silty or muddy flats. It remains unknown if this species can tolerate low salinity, unlike its relative the chupare stingray Styracura schmardae. In his 1999 Checklist of Living Elasmobranchs, Leonard Compagno questioned whether this species is taxonomically valid.
