Xingu River ray Xingu River ray The Xingu River ray, white-blotched river stingray, or polka-dot stingray ("Potamotrygon leopoldi") is a species of freshwater fish in the family Potamotrygonidae. It is endemic to the Xingu River basin in Brazil and prefers rocky bottoms. It is sometimes kept in aquaria. "P. leopoldi" reaches up to in disc width, in total length and in weight. Females grow larger than males. It is closely related to the similar "P. henlei" from the Tocantins River basin and "P. albimaculata" from the Tapajós River basin. Compared to "P. henlei", "P. leopoldi" is deeper black above and its underparts are
Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests World Wildlife Fund classes the ecoregion "Vulnerable". The Tapajós-Xingu, Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia and Tocantins/Pindare moist forests ecoregions on the eastern edge of the Amazon basin have all been badly affected by human settlement and deforestation. The Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia region is the most deforested and degraded part of the Amazon region after the adjoining Tocantins/Pindare moist forests to the east. It is crossed by the Trans-Amazonian Highway (BR-230) from east to west, and by the BR-422 highway along the Tocantins. Most of the land along these roads has been deforested and replaced by pasture or farm fields. The remaining forest has been stripped of