Habitat segregation and mosaic sympatry of the two species of manta ray in the Indian and Pacific Oceans: Manta alfredi and M. Kashiwagi, T., Marshall, A.D., Bennett, M.B. Ichthyological Society of France, France, pp. (eds) Indo-Pacific fish biology: proceedings of the fifth international conference on Indo-Pacific fishes, Noumea, 1997. Biology of the manta ray, Manta birostris Walbaum, in the Indo- Pacific. Homma, K., Maruyama, T., Itoh, T., Ishihara, H. Satellite tracking of manta rays highlights challenges to their conservation. Graham, R.T., Witt, M.J., Castellanos, D.W., Remolina, F., Godley, B.J. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 37: 715-721. Sightings of mobulid rays from northern New Zealand, with confirmation of the occurrence of Manta birostris in New Zealand waters. First photographic records of the giant manta ray Manta birostris off eastern Australia. 3 1397-2068 pp.Ĭouturier LIE, Jaine FRA, Kashiwagi T. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. Families Gymnuridae, Myliobatidae, Rhinopteridae, Mobulidae. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.Ĭompagno, L.J.V. Hamlett (ed.) Sharks, Skates, and Rays: the Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 35: 649-657.Ĭompagno, L.J.V. Natural history notes on the devil-fish, Manta birostris (Walbaum) and Mobula olfersi (Müller). Masters thesis, Texas A&M University.Ĭoles, R.J. (2002) Population structure of Manta birostris from the Pacific Islands and Atlantic Oceans. Manta birostris, predator of the deep? Insight into the diet of the giant manta ray through stable isotope analysis R. Sea Technology 25(11): 71.īurgess KB, Couturier LIE, Marshall AD, Richardson AR, Weeks SJ, Bennett MR. Manta ray wings, shark meat posing as scallops. Zoological Journal London 4: 444-457īooda, L. On the fish known in Jamaica as the sea devil ( Cephalopholis manta). Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2, 284 pp.īancroft, E.N. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 118: 151-164.Īllen, G.R. Evidence of brain-warming in the mobulid rays, Mobula tarapacana and Manta birostris (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii: Batoidea: Myliobatiformes). Mobula birostris (Walbaum 1792) ReferencesĪlexander, R.L. The specific name birostris refers to the two horn-like cephalic lobes: bi- (= two) and rostrum (= snout). EPBC Act 1999 : Listed Migratory speciesĭiffers from Manta alfredi in size, coloration, morphometric measurements, and in having a caudal spine in a post-dorsal protuberance (Marshall et al., 2009).Their gill rakers, which are thought to reduce blood toxins, are increasingly being traded in the lucrative Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry. Mantas are targeted in many parts of their range, and almost all of the fish is used. Giant Manta Ray populations have suffered from over-fishing as these slow-swimming giants are an easy target. (2016) found that Giant Manta Rays off Ecuador feed in surface waters, along with the mesopelagic zone. Mantas have gills modified into complex sieving plates through which filter plankton from the water.īurgess et al. Manta rays have a broad mouth at the end of the head with a single band of minute teeth in the upper jaw. They have two cephalic lobes on the front of their heads that help direct water flow into the mouth. Grows to a disc width (DW) of at least 7 metres, and possibly to more than 9 metres. Giant Manta Rays aggregate around Ningaloo Reef during autumn and winter. Widespread, although relatively uncommon in Australian waters also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is circumglobal - usually offshore, often around oceanic islands, sometimes coastal, and most common in tropical waters. Mobula birostris (Walbaum 1792) More Info

Giant manta ray size comparison