It is known from two species (one known from articulated remains, the other from isolated teeth) that inhabited the northern Tethys Ocean during the Early Eocene.

[4] It is the oldest known stingaree genus, though molecular data suggests they diverged from butterfly rays about 75 million years ago or from deepwater stingrays around the time of the K-Pg transition.

The type species, A. arambourgi Cappetta, 1983, is known from isolated teeth found in the Ypresian deposits of Ouled Abdoun, Morocco.

This species was placed in various genera, generally in Urolophus, until finally being attributed to Arechia in 2020, due to the close resemblance of its teeth to those of A. arambourgi.

are known from several sites throughout North Africa, including from the Ypresian & Lutetian of Senegal, Bartonian of Tunisia, and potentially the Rupelian of Egypt.