Typically measuring 70 cm (28 in) across, this dark brown ray is easily identifiable by its long, projecting snout and elongated, acutely pointed pelvic fins.

Dutch ichthyologist Marinus Boeseman described the sharpsnout stingray in a 1948 issue of the scientific journal Zoologische Mededelingen, based on a juvenile male caught off Suriname with a disc length of 36 cm (14 in).

[1] The pectoral fin disc of the sharpsnout stingray is about as wide as long, with strongly concave leading margins and rounded corners.

[2][7] The pelvic fins are distinctive, being over twice as long as wide with a gently sinuous trailing margin, and tapering to an acute tip that sometimes extends past the disc.

[8] The sharpsnout stingray feeds on small burrowing invertebrates such as worms, crustaceans, and molluscs, excavating them from the substrate and grinding them apart with its pavement-like teeth.

Similarly to the Colares stingray (Fontitrygon colarensis), the annual movements of this ray may relate to reproduction as most females found near the coast are newly impregnated.

Because of these threats and the slow reproductive rate of this ray, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Critically Endangered.