Pteroplatytrygon violacea
Purple open-sea ray, perhaps the only member of the family that lives entirely in the water column. Frequent accidental catch on longlines and drift nets, with a long venomous stinger. Least Concern according to IUCN.
Also called: raia-violeta, pelagic stingray, raya látigo violeta, raya látigo pelágica, raya látigo obispo
The pelagic stingray is an open-sea stingray, up to 96 cm of disc width. It occurs in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide, almost always in the top 100 m, and is possibly the only fully pelagic member of its family. It eats jellyfish, squid, decapod crustaceans and fish. It is ovoviviparous, with 2 to 9 pups of 15 to 25 cm disc width after a gestation of about 4 months. It is caught often as bycatch on tuna and shark longlines, drift nets, purse seines and bottom trawls, and its meat is sometimes used. Its tail stinger is long and venomous. IUCN classifies it as Least Concern. It is not on the Brazilian national list.
Robust ray with a uniform violet, purple or dark bluish-green color above and below, without strong markings. Broadly rounded snout and angular disc; no spines on the back. The tail is less than twice the body length, with a long fold underneath and none on top, and usually a single very long stinger. The eyes do not protrude. Measurements on this card are in disc width. Among stingrays, it is the uniformly purple, open-sea species: it differs from the bottom-dwelling Hypanus stingrays in color and habit.
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Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
Probably cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical seas. In the eastern Pacific, from Vancouver and California to Baja California and Chile, including the Galápagos; in the Atlantic, Cape Verde and the southeastern Mediterranean; also in the Indian Ocean. FishBase includes Brazil; in open sea, almost always far from the beach.
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical open sea, almost always in the top 100 m, near the surface.
coast
Estimate: present year-round in open sea, no known fishing season.
Any time. No fixed time in the sources we checked; it lives in the water column and appears by day and by night (estimate).
Cold water keeps the ray away from the surface in winter months.
Little known direct effect.
Little known effect.
No effect in open sea.
Not applicable at sea.
Not very sensitive to noise.
Rough seas make fishing in open sea difficult.
Little effect in open sea.
Almost always in the top 100 m.
natural baits
accessories
It appears as bycatch of those fishing for tuna, mahi-mahi and swordfish while drifting. Keep the ray in the water and away from the tail, and never bring it aboard: the stinger is very long.
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: Not on the Brazilian national list (Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026). IUCN global assessment: LC (Nov 9, 2018).
In Brazil, finning is banned: catching sharks and rays and keeping only the fins, discarding the body (art. 3). Sharks and rays landed must arrive with all fins naturally attached to the body; carrying an animal aboard without fins or with loose fins, and transferring sharks and rays between fishing vessels, is prohibited. This applies to any species that may be retained.
NOM-017-PESC-1994 gives its own bag limit only to billfish, sharks, and giant croaker (1 fish per day). Rays are not listed separately in the text we checked: the general limit of ten marine fish per angler per day applies, with no more than five of the same species (item 4.9.1 a). Anything over that must be returned alive to the water (item 4.9.5), and recreational catch may not be sold (item 4.11).
Executive Decree 9/2026 (art. 19) bans, throughout the national territory and in sport, recreational, or tourism fishing, the catch, retention, handling for recreational purposes, use, and landing of sharks and rays (subclass Elasmobranchii). If one is hooked by accident, it must be released immediately, without taking it fully out of the water and without unnecessary handling. It is also prohibited to promote them as targets in tournaments (art. 19) and to sell the catch (art. 20). The decree takes effect six months after its promulgation on June 10, 2026 (art. 40), around Dec 10, 2026, and repeals Resuelto ADM/ARAP 002/2012 (art. 39). Confirm the date with ARAP.
The tail stinger is serrated and venomous: a sting causes intense pain and a deep cut, and can leave fragments in the wound. If you are stung, wash the area, immerse it in very hot water (not so hot that it burns) and seek medical care. Keep the ray in the water, away from the tail, and cut the line close to the mouth instead of tearing out the hook.
The flesh and sometimes the cartilage are used where it is caught. Rays retain urea: bleed and prepare it quickly. It is usually an accidental catch: prefer to return it alive.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00447, b = 3.12; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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The season factors (months), the time of day, and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water, and noise) are editorial estimates by the app, based on the literature cited below and on field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data or measurements made for this species and may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the standard and link. The months indicate when anglers usually find the species near the coast, not a catch season.
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