MANTA RAYS

One of the seas most graceful pelagics, the manta ray is the largest of all the ray species and one of the largest fish in the sea. They can weigh as much 1300 kilograms (3000lb) and be as wide as 6.5 meters or 22 feet from wing tip to wing tip. These wings are actually their pectoral fins.

Mantas are found throughout the tropics and live mostly on or near coral reefs. They are principally plankton feeders and usually inhabit areas where there is a good flow on plankton rich waters.

There is some confusion as to how many species of manta there are. At one point it was thought there were four, but currently, this assessment has dropped to three (Manta birostris, Manta ehrenbergii and Manta raya) but as these are so similar, it as been suggested that they are all a single species with localised variations.

The genus of "Manta" is sometimes placed in its own family, Mobulidae, but FishBase (www.fishbase.org) put mantas into the family Myliobatidae along with relatives like eagle rays.

While most mantas are black on their top and white on their tummies occasionally you will see all black animals. The markings on their stomachs - blotches, dashes and streaks are unique to each animal and can be used to identify them.

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Mantas have many common names: Atlantic manta, Pacific manta, Giant manta, devil ray, devilfish.

Mantas are now registered on the IUCN list of threatened species.