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Mobula mobular

(Giant devil ray)

Overview

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Family : Eagle and manta rays; An epipelagic species[1] found over continental shelves and near oceanic islands [2]. Feeds on small pelagic fishes and crustaceans[2]. Ovoviviparous [3].

Endangered

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Albanian:

Lope deti

Common Names in Catalan:

Manta

Common Names in Croatian:

Golub uhan

Common Names in Czech:

Manta Atlantsk, Manta atlantská

Common Names in Danish:

Lille Dj, Lille djævlerokke

Common Names in Dutch:

Duivelsrog, Kleine duivelsrog, Kleine dulvelsrog

Common Names in English:

Devil fish, Devil ray, devilfish, Giant devil ray, Giant devilray, Horny ray, Manta

Common Names in Finnish:

Sarvirausku

Common Names in French:

Diable De Mer M, Mante

Common Names in German:

Kleiner Teufelsrochen, Meeresteufel, Mittelmeer-Manta, Teufelsrochen

Common Names in Greek:

Diavolopsaro, Sel, Seláhi kephalóptero, Διάβολος, Διαβολόψαρο, Κερατάς

Common Names in Greek, Modern:

Diavolopsaro, Seláhi Kephalóptero, Διαβολόψαρο

Common Names in Greek, Modern (1453):

Diavolopsaro, Seláhi kephalóptero, Διαβολόψαρο

Common Names in Italian:

Daddarita, Diavolo di mare, Mobula, Muchio vacca, Patesse addo capre, Pesce vesque, Pescio vacca, Pisci daddarita, Pisci sceccu, Vacca ´emare, Vacca 'emare, Vescovo

Common Names in Maltese:

Baqra, Manta, Raja tal-qrun

Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:

蝠鱝, 蝠鲼

Common Names in Marathi:

Shing pakat, शिंग पाकात

Common Names in Polish:

Mobula

Common Names in Portuguese:

Diabo-do-mar, Jamanta, Jimanta, Manta, Maroma, Ugemanta, Uja, Uje, Urjamanta

Common Names in Rumanian:

Diavol de mare

Common Names in Serbian:

Deverika

Common Names in Spanish:

Manta, Manta mobula, Maroma

Common Names in Swedish:

Manta, Mindre Dj, Mindre djävulsrocka

Common Names in Turkish:

Kulaklıfulya balığı, Şeytan balığı

Description

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Habitat

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -1,358 meters (0 to -4,455 feet).[4]

Ecology: Like all mobulids, the giant devilray is an epipelagic batoid feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small schooling fishes , which are trapped on its specialised branchial filter plates . In the Mediterranean a likely important prey item for the giant devilray is the euphasiid shrimp Meganyctiphanes norveggica. Mobulids are aplacental viviparous matrotroph rays, in that the pups receive their nourishment from uterine milk secretion (Wourms 1977). They give birth to a single huge pup. A term embryo of M. mobular born from a specimen, caught in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea in late spring 1986 (Notarbartolo di Sciara and Serena, 1988), with a disc 1659 mm wide and a weight of 35 kg is the largest Mobula embryo on record (Notarbartolo di Sciara, 1987). It is not apparent from the literature whether M. mobular has a restricted reproductive season in the Mediterranean. Tortonese (1957) described a rather undeveloped embryo from a female caught in Palermo in September. The observations of Notarbartolo di Sciara and Serena (1988) suggest that in the northern Mediterranean the species gives birth in summer and that the pup could be up to 1,660 mm disc width at birth after 25 months of gestation (Serena 2000).[5].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Aodon cornu Lacepède • Apterurus fabroni Rafinesque • Cephaloptera giorna (Lacepède • Cephaloptera tatraniana van Hasselt • Cephalopterus edentula Griffini • Cephalopterus giornae (Lacepède • Cephalopterus massena Risso • Dicerobatis giornae (Lacepède • Manta mobular (Bonnaterre • Mobula auriculata Rafinesque • Mobula mobular • Raia fabroniana Lacepède • Raia mobular • Raia mobular Bonnaterre • Raia mobular Bonnaterre, 1788 • Raja cephaloptera Bloch & Schneider • Raja diabolus Shaw • Raja giorna Lacepède • Squalus edentulus Br �nnich

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: Data last modified by FishBase 19-Oct-2000

Since expert examination is needed to distinguish M. mobular from M. japanica (the spinetail devilray), a circumtropical species also known from the tropical Atlantic (Notarbartolo di Sciara 1987), past reports of giant devilrays from the Atlantic may have been due to incorrect identification of spinetail devilrays. (Ref. 287674).

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Mobula

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 12 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. coilloti (Greater Guinean Mobula) · M. eregoodootenkee (Longhorned Mobula) · M. hypostoma (Atlantic Devilray) · M. japanica (Spinetail Devil Ray) · M. japonica (Spinetail Devil Ray) · M. kuhlii (Shorthorn Devilray) · M. mobular (Giant Devil Ray) · M. munkiana (Manta De Monk) · M. rancureli (Greater Guinean Mobula) · M. rochebrunei (Lesser Guinean Devil Ray) · M. tarapacana (Box Ray) · M. thurstoni (Smooth Tail Devil Ray)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Brito, A. (1991). Catalogo de los pesces de las Islas Canarias. Francisco Lemus, la Laguna. 230 p. [back]
  2. McEachran, J.D. and C. Capapé (1984). Mobulidae. p. 210-211. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. [back]
  3. Dulvy, N.K. and J.D. Reynolds (1997). Evolutionary transitions among egg-laying, live-bearing and maternal inputs in sharks and rays. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 264:1309-1315. [back]
  4. Mean = -545.750 meters (-1,790.518 feet), Standard Deviation = 954.570 based on 4 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
  5. Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Serena, F. & Mancusi, C. 2006. Mobula mobular. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012