Dasyatis garouaensis

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	CHONDRICHTHYES	RAJIFORMES	DASYATIDAE

Scientific Name:

Dasyatis garouaensis

Species Authority:

(Stauch & Blanc, 1962)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Smooth Freshwater Stingray, Niger Stingray, Niger Stingray, Smooth Freshwater Stingray

Synonym/s:

Potamotrygon garouaensis Stauch & Blanc, 1962

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Vulnerable B1ab(iii,iv,v);C2a(ii) ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2005

Assessor/s:

Compagno, L.J.V.

Reviewer/s:

Musick, J.A. & Fowler, S.L. (Shark Red List Authority)

Justification:
This assessment is based on the information published in the 2005 shark status survey (Fowler et al. 2005).

The Smooth Freshwater Stingray (Dasyatis garouaensis) is confirmed from only three West African rivers and has declined or disappeared from parts of its original centre of abundance. Population declines are likely to continue as a result of expanding fisheries and environmental degradation, and there is no direct or indirect protection for this species or its habitat.

History:

2000

–

Vulnerable

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is restricted to freshwater habitats. It is recorded from three West African river systems in Nigeria and Cameroon; the Niger and Benoue, Cross and Sanaga Rivers. Also occurs in Lagos, Nigeria, from uncertain habitat, possibly transported from elsewhere (Compagno and Roberts 1984a, b). Subpopulation details are unknown.
Countries:	Native: Benin; Cameroon; Guinea; Mali; Niger; Nigeria
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	A rare to common small stingray.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This freshwater stingray is present primarily in the Niger-Benoue river system of West Africa. The few specimens examined for diet had eaten aquatic insects. Age at maturity is estimated at about two years for both sexes, with a maximum lifespan of five years for males and seven years for females. Generation time and average annual fecundity are unknown.
Systems:	Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	This species is caught as bycatch of fisheries on the rivers and subject to increasing fisheries pressure and habitat degradation in an area of dense and expanding human populations and political problems. Although dull-coloured, young of this species are sufficiently small to be usable in the ornamental fish trade, as are a number of species of South American Potamotrygonidae, although there is no evidence that this has happened to date. A declining population in its former main centre of abundance, the Niger-Benoue system, is suggested by sequential attempts to collect these rays by Stauch and Blanc (1962) and Thorson and Watson (1975). It has declined or disappeared at the type locality at Garoua in the Benoue River in Cameroon, where it was formerly abundant, due (according to local residents) to local drought. On the other hand, this ray was fairly common in the Sanaga River near Edea, Cameroon (Taniuchi 1991) but with no baseline on former abundance.

Major Threat(s):

This species is caught as bycatch of fisheries on the rivers and subject to increasing fisheries pressure and habitat degradation in an area of dense and expanding human populations and political problems. Although dull-coloured, young of this species are sufficiently small to be usable in the ornamental fish trade, as are a number of species of South American Potamotrygonidae, although there is no evidence that this has happened to date.

A declining population in its former main centre of abundance, the Niger-Benoue system, is suggested by sequential attempts to collect these rays by Stauch and Blanc (1962) and Thorson and Watson (1975). It has declined or disappeared at the type locality at Garoua in the Benoue River in Cameroon, where it was formerly abundant, due (according to local residents) to local drought. On the other hand, this ray was fairly common in the Sanaga River near Edea, Cameroon (Taniuchi 1991) but with no baseline on former abundance.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	None.

Conservation Actions:

None.

Citation:	Compagno, L.J.V. 2005. Dasyatis garouaensis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 08 February 2012.
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