Fontitrygon margaritella (Compagno & Roberts, 1984)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The pearl stingray (Fontitrygon margaritella) is a little-known species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found in shallow coastal waters from Mauritania to Angola, though fossils have been found in Portugal. Growing to 30 cm (12 in) across, this species has a rounded pectoral fin disc with a pointed snout, and a wide band of dermal denticles over the back in adults. It closely resembles and is often confused for the much larger daisy stingray (F. margarita); both species are characterized by the presence of an enlarged, nacreous denticle in the middle of the back called a "pearl spine". The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assesses the pearl stingray's conservation status as Near Threatened, but it is likely that most of the historically reported fishery catches of the daisy stingray were in fact of this species.
Wikipedia contributors, Pearl stingray; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:33:13.089055+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Fontitrygon margaritella (Compagno & Roberts, 1984)
- Name authority
- (Compagno & Roberts, 1984)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Elasmobranchii
- Order
- Myliobatiformes
- Family
- Dasyatidae
- Genus
- Fontitrygon
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumChondrichthyes
- classElasmobranchii
- subclassNeoselachii
- infraclassBatoidea
- orderMyliobatiformes
- familyDasyatidae Jordan & Gilbert, 1879
- genusFontitrygon Last, Naylor & Manjaji-Matsumoto, 2016
- speciesFontitrygon margaritella (Compagno & Roberts, 1984)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Fontitrygon. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Fontitrygon margarita (Günther, 1870) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Fontitrygon geijskesi (Boeseman, 1948) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Fontitrygon ukpam (Smith, 1863) | DasyatidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Dasyatis margaritella Compagno & Roberts, 1984 Compagno & Roberts, 1984 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1042839 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6JDLD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.