Species that are considered high risk have a well-documented history of invasiveness in at least one location globally, and a high or medium climate match to the contiguous United States.
Potamotrygon schuhmacheri is a species of freshwater stingray native to the Paraná-Paraguay River basin in South America. There is no information indicating that this species is used for food or in the aquarium industry. The history of invasiveness is high. P. schuhmacheri invaded upper reaches of the Paraná-Paraguay River basin when a dam was built and submerged a falls that had been a natural barrier to Potamotrygon species. After the dam was built stingray attacks on humans and the resulting wounds were reported from the upper reaches where previously there had been no reports. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission list P. schuhmacheri as a conditional species. The climate match is high. The areas of high match stretched from southern Texas in the west to Florida in the east. Many others areas in the south had medium matches. The certainty of assessment is low. While there is scientifically defensible information supporting the categorization of history of invasiveness there were no georeferenced observations of the species available to use as source points in the climate match. The source points selected represented the entire Paraná-Paraguay River basin; the results of the climate match could change if actual observations of the species could be used as source points. The combination of a high history of invasiveness and high climate match result in an overall risk assessment category of high.
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