Pacific Chupare, Styracura pacifica
Pacific Chupare, Styracura pacifica. Underwater photographs taken in Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, April 2026. Photographs and identifications courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.
The Pacific Chupare, Styracura pacifica, is a member of the Stringray or Potamotrygoniade Family that is also known as the Pacific Chupare Stingray, the Pacific Stingray, the Pacifc Whiptail and the Pacific Whiptail Stingray and in Mexico as raya áspera del Pacifico, raya coluda del Pacifico and chupare del Pacifico. Globally, there are two species in the Styracura Genus, both of which are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Chupare has a round disk that is equal in length and width with a long, broad-angled snout. They have a maximum disc width of 62 cm (2 feet 0 inches) and a total length of 1.57 m (5 feet 2 inches). Dorsally they are dark brown with a purple tint to black and ventral side is pale. Their head is continuous with the disk which is a rounded rhomboid that is wider than long and evenly rounded at the front with a short snout with a small pointed tip. The upper surface of the body and tail are covered with small tubercles and the shoulder margins have large tubercles. Their disc has flattened pectoral fins that are continuous and extend from their head to their tail base with the front margin being straight. They have a relatively short, very thick tail with the second half being whiplike. They have one elongated slender venomous serrated spine located in the latter half of the tail and is potentially dangerous to humans. They lack caudal and dorsal fins.
The Pacific Chupare is a demersal species that is found within muddy and silty substrate in shallow coastal water estuaries and mangroves coastal waters at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). They spend their days buried in sand half submerged on the bottom. They feed on crustaceans, mollusks, polychaetes, and other invertebrates and on small bony fish. Reproduction occurs in annual cycles via aplacental viviparity with internal fertilization. Embryos are sustained by a yolk sac for the initial sixty days after which they are nourished by uterine milk secreted by their mother. After a gestation period miniature adults are born. The Pacific Chupare Stingray is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, diet, growth, habitat, longevity, movement patterns, and reproduction.
The Pacific Chupare is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean being found from Zihuantanejo Bay, Guerrero, south to Guatemala.
The Pacific Chupare can be confused with the Diamond Stingray, Hypanus dipterurus (long row of thorns down the back), the Longtail Stingray, Hypanus longus (elongated tail), and the Pelagic Stingray, Pteroplatytrygon violacea (front of disc convex).
From a conservation perspective the Pacific Chupare is currently considered to be VULNURABLE. They have been subject to heavy fishing by both artisanal and commercial fishermen utilizing nets and hook and line. They are plagued by slow growth rates, long reproduction cycles, an inability to find safe refuge and have now disappeared from many fisheries. They are found in areas with significant water quality declines due to human development and related habitat destruction of coastal bays and mangrove lagoons. They lack any form of management and catch levels lack specific details. They are sold at a minor level in some regions for human consumption.