A Rant about the Cortez Stingray (Urobatis maculatus)

WheatToast

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Two Round stingrays I once found being sold as "Cortez stingrays"

In this rant, I will discuss the Cortez stingray (Urobatis maculatus), otherwise known as the Cortez round stingray, the Cortez ray, the Chocolate chip ray, and the Spotted round ray.

OH MY GOODNESS! 99.9% of the time I find so called "Cortez stingrays" being owned by hobbyists or sold by vendors, they actually turn out to be Round stingrays (Urobatis halleri). I know the two can be somewhat difficult to differentiate, their distributions overlap (including within the Sea of Cortez), and their care requirements are basically identical, but I cannot believe that this misidentification remains so prevalent. They just appear SOOO distinct!
Take a look for yourselves:

True Cortez stingrays:
https://sharksandrays.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Cortez-Round-Stingray-047.jpg
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/2862443/large.jpg?1452375179
https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/sftep/resources/img/images/species/232_6015.jpg

Round stingrays:
https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/sftep/resources/img/images/species/231_6325.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Round_stingray.jpg
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/B75YWC/round-stingray-urobatis-halleri-captive-B75YWC.jpg

And here are the some images of "Cortez stingrays" in aquariums:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/data/f/fc/fc4cc467_stingray.jpeg
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=95d7bc98f48bd7c816382dc5ab837794&oe=613714C0
https://preview.redd.it/pgibxfj69st...bp&s=fe57b3437984b8f888e930cc09689c8f24848b63
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=213149&thumb=1&d=1387755855
https://i0.wp.com/harrysmarinelife....1/03/img_5691-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560,2560&ssl=1
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CartilaginousFishesPIX/Rays/Urlolophidae/Cortez ray ishs (1).jpg

See what I mean? Those are definitely Round stingrays! While the two share a similar body type and similar coloration (light tan to dark brown), the Round stingray lacks the regularly spaced black spots of the Cortez stingray (instead possessing none or very few irregularly spaced spots as shown here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Round_stingray_reiman.jpg). It also features two overlapping reticulating patterns on its back (one resembling a large honeycomb while the other resembles a multitude of small dots) while the Cortez stingray features only one (the large honeycomb).

To be true, I have seen Cortez stingrays being identified correctly in home aquaria/for sale (here are the only two examples I know of)...
A lone specimen: https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=a7d6438ce2a885f8eb49f767c004c98d&oe=61359610
Paired with a Round stingray (the Cortez stingray is on top): http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/119348Rays.jpg
...however, a number this low seems absurdly unreasonable to me.

Also, on an additional note, I find other ray species being misidentified with the Cortez stingray to a lesser extent which I only find... moderately distressing. Here's a list with example pictures of misidentifications:

Leopard round stingray (Urobatis pardalis)
https://www.aquariumdomain.com/images/speciesProfiles/CortezRoundRay6.jpg

Chilean round stingray (Urotrygon chilensis)
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1141/1330/products/Cortez-Stingray.jpg?v=1582325935

And that's just about it...

Sorry for the rant, but this issue has been bugging me for so long (3 years?) and I wanted to get the word out.
 

Jcar

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I now have a male and female " Cortez stingray". What do you think? I'm hoping they breed, as they are both healthy. They share a saltwater pool with coral cat sharks. Let me know what you think about these guys I am attaching pics. The guy I got them from said he's never seen this good of marking and pattern on a cortez
 

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WheatToast

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I now have a male and female " Cortez stingray". What do you think? I'm hoping they breed, as they are both healthy. They share a saltwater pool with coral cat sharks. Let me know what you think about these guys I am attaching pics. The guy I got them from said he's never seen this good of marking and pattern on a cortez
Awesome looking specimens! They actually appear to be Leopard round stingrays (Urobatis pardalis) which I mentioned at the bottom of my first post on this thread:
…with example pictures of misidentifications:

Leopard round stingray (Urobatis pardalis)
https://www.aquariumdomain.com/images/speciesProfiles/CortezRoundRay6.jpg
They are not very common in the trade and I believe they were only recently described in 2015.
Compared to the other species of its genus, Urobatis, found in the aquarium trade (Urobatis concentricus, Urobatis halleri, Urobatis jamaicensis, and Urobatis maculatus), Urobatis pardalis looks much like Urobatis jamaicensis since their mottled patternings are more prominent than in the other listed species, though Urobatis jamaicensis is yellower and native to the Western Atlantic while Urobatis pardalis is browner and native to the Eastern Pacific.
Here are some more resources:
https://www.fishbase.se/summary/68154
https://www.elasmodiver.com/Leopard_Round_Stingray.htm
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/sharksandrays/viewtopic.php?p=40000584#p40000584
Here are more pictures (note the misidentification in the last picture):
1638597946861.jpeg

1638597961482.png

1638598095232.jpeg
 

Jcar

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Awesome looking specimens! They actually appear to be Leopard round stingrays (Urobatis pardalis) which I mentioned at the bottom of my first post on this thread:

They are not very common in the trade and I believe they were only recently described in 2015.
Compared to the other species of its genus, Urobatis, found in the aquarium trade (Urobatis concentricus, Urobatis halleri, Urobatis jamaicensis, and Urobatis maculatus), Urobatis pardalis looks much like Urobatis jamaicensis since their mottled patternings are more prominent than in the other listed species, though Urobatis jamaicensis is yellower and native to the Western Atlantic while Urobatis pardalis is browner and native to the Eastern Pacific.
Here are some more resources:
https://www.fishbase.se/summary/68154
https://www.elasmodiver.com/Leopard_Round_Stingray.htm
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/sharksandrays/viewtopic.php?p=40000584#p40000584
Here are more pictures (note the misidentification in the last picture):
1638597946861.jpeg

1638597961482.png

1638598095232.jpeg
Ok thank you for the info. It's a male and female I believe. I'm trying to acclimate them to their pool at the moment and get them eating
 

MnFish1

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Two Round stingrays I once found being sold as "Cortez stingrays"

In this rant, I will discuss the Cortez stingray (Urobatis maculatus), otherwise known as the Cortez round stingray, the Cortez ray, the Chocolate chip ray, and the Spotted round ray.

OH MY GOODNESS! 99.9% of the time I find so called "Cortez stingrays" being owned by hobbyists or sold by vendors, they actually turn out to be Round stingrays (Urobatis halleri). I know the two can be somewhat difficult to differentiate, their distributions overlap (including within the Sea of Cortez), and their care requirements are basically identical, but I cannot believe that this misidentification remains so prevalent. They just appear SOOO distinct!
Take a look for yourselves:

True Cortez stingrays:
https://sharksandrays.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Cortez-Round-Stingray-047.jpg
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/2862443/large.jpg?1452375179
https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/sftep/resources/img/images/species/232_6015.jpg

Round stingrays:
https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/sftep/resources/img/images/species/231_6325.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Round_stingray.jpg
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/B75YWC/round-stingray-urobatis-halleri-captive-B75YWC.jpg

And here are the some images of "Cortez stingrays" in aquariums:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/data/f/fc/fc4cc467_stingray.jpeg
https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=95d7bc98f48bd7c816382dc5ab837794&oe=613714C0
https://preview.redd.it/pgibxfj69st...bp&s=fe57b3437984b8f888e930cc09689c8f24848b63
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=213149&thumb=1&d=1387755855
https://i0.wp.com/harrysmarinelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/img_5691-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560,2560&ssl=1
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CartilaginousFishesPIX/Rays/Urlolophidae/Cortez ray ishs (1).jpg

See what I mean? Those are definitely Round stingrays! While the two share a similar body type and similar coloration (light tan to dark brown), the Round stingray lacks the regularly spaced black spots of the Cortez stingray (instead possessing none or very few irregularly spaced spots as shown here: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Round_stingray_reiman.jpg). It also features two overlapping reticulating patterns on its back (one resembling a large honeycomb while the other resembles a multitude of small dots) while the Cortez stingray features only one (the large honeycomb).

To be true, I have seen Cortez stingrays being identified correctly in home aquaria/for sale (here are the only two examples I know of)...
A lone specimen: https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=a7d6438ce2a885f8eb49f767c004c98d&oe=61359610
Paired with a Round stingray (the Cortez stingray is on top): http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/119348Rays.jpg
...however, a number this low seems absurdly unreasonable to me.

Also, on an additional note, I find other ray species being misidentified with the Cortez stingray to a lesser extent which I only find... moderately distressing. Here's a list with example pictures of misidentifications:

Leopard round stingray (Urobatis pardalis)
https://www.aquariumdomain.com/images/speciesProfiles/CortezRoundRay6.jpg

Chilean round stingray (Urotrygon chilensis)
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1141/1330/products/Cortez-Stingray.jpg?v=1582325935

And that's just about it...

Sorry for the rant, but this issue has been bugging me for so long (3 years?) and I wanted to get the word out.
Can you just say the message - without supplying 5 links? What is the difference between the 2? Does one get bigger? Less tolerant of aquarium life? What? (PS - thansk for the heads up) - but what is the point?
 
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WheatToast

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Can you just say the message - without supplying 5 links? What is the difference between the 2? Does one get bigger? Less tolerant of aquarium life? What? (PS - thansk for the heads up) - but what is the point?
Sorry if my writing was a little confusing and all of my images were links! This was one of my earliest threads.

Differences between the two rays:

1643269101052.png

Round stingray (Urobatis halleri)
- Range: California - Panama
- Fine mottled patterning superimposed on larger honeycomb pattern
- Fairly common in the aquarium trade

1643269026106.png
Cortez stingray (Urobatis maculatus)
- Range: Gulf of California
- Large honeycomb pattern with regularly spaced black dots
- Incredibly rare in the aquarium trade

Admittedly though, their care requirements are virtually identical (though Urobatis halleri could probably tolerate lower temperatures) and they are basically identical in size (usually about a foot long) and shape. So ultimately, if you were attempting to care for them, mixing them up would not be much of an issue. However, the fact that Urobatis halleri gets misidentified as Urobatis maculatus so frequently (since Urobatis halleri specimens in the aquarium trade often called "Cortez stingray") still bugs me.
 

MnFish1

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Sorry if my writing was a little confusing and all of my images were links! This was one of my earliest threads.

Differences between the two rays:

1643269101052.png

Round stingray (Urobatis halleri)
- Range: California - Panama
- Fine mottled patterning superimposed on larger honeycomb pattern
- Fairly common in the aquarium trade

1643269026106.png
Cortez stingray (Urobatis maculatus)
- Range: Gulf of California
- Large honeycomb pattern with regularly spaced black dots
- Incredibly rare in the aquarium trade

Admittedly though, their care requirements are virtually identical (though Urobatis halleri could probably tolerate lower temperatures) and they are basically identical in size (usually about a foot long) and shape. So ultimately, if you were attempting to care for them, mixing them up would not be much of an issue. However, the fact that Urobatis halleri gets misidentified as Urobatis maculatus so frequently (since Urobatis halleri specimens in the aquarium trade often called "Cortez stingray") still bugs me.
What I didn't understand was the 'rant' part (you said you made a rant) - I was just trying to figure out what you were 'upset' about:). I didn't meant sound harsh and PS I didn't think your post sounded like a rant!:). Hope you enjoy R2R
 

Eric R.

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Unfortunately, I think this happens somewhat often in the aquarium trade, especially in LFS. There are certain rare species with "similar" looking relatives and those relatives are frequently sold under the name of the rarer relative and almost never under their own name, despite them usually being (somewhat) easy for the trained eye to tell apart. I agree, it's worth a good rant. The true julii corydoras and the false julii corydoras (aka the Corydoras trilineatus, or the three-lined cory) comes to mind. True julii corys should fetch a much higher price cause they are quite rarer, but you'll almost never see a fish store selling false julii corys as three-lined corys instead of julii corys.
 

lion king

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Any tips on getting these guys eating regularly? They are not interested in food yet

Sorry I just saw my name alerted, rays are not my thing so I usually don't engage. As far as feeding goes, squid seems to be most favorites, you can get whole squid at an Asian market, just make sure they are appropriate sized(not too big). The whole squid will be more appeasing to them than pieces, you can wiggle them around to entice, and eventually feed them hand. If you still have a hard time feeding, try live food offerings, offering mollies and fiddler crabs. You may need to help with the live mollies by herding them towards the ray with a feeding stick, they will easily find the crabs on their own. Many times hard to feed fish need live food to settle in, fish and crabs are part of their natural wild diet.
 

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