This fact file is all about Manta Rays in the series Ocean Life.
– Brief Overview:
The Manta Ray is the worlds largest species of ray, and is among the largest of all fishes. It can grow 6–9 m wide and weight almost 2 tonnes! Manta Rays are often confused as a type of stingray, but they don’t have venomous barbed tails and are completely harmless. Their natural predators include large sharks and killer whales.
– Appearance:
They have flat bodies and are grey to black in colour. Their underside is white and they have short tails. They move similarly to birds, by slowly flapping their wings to move themselves forward. They have a distinctive body shape, with triangular pectoral ‘wings’ and paddle-like lobes extending in front of the mouth
– Diet:
Manta Rays are harmless filter-feeders, feeding on a diet of Krill and Plankton. It has no teeth on its upper jaw as it uses fleshy flaps on each side of its head to direct plankton into its mouth, which is on the underside of its body. Excess water is sieved out through the manta’s gills.
– Habitat:
The manta ray usually inhabits tropical and subtropical waters around the world, north and south of the Equator. Their flattened body is adapted for life on the sea floor, but the manta prefers open water close to the surface.
Mantas are usually solitary, but sometimes form groups when feeding on a zooplankton swarm. They are thought to travel vast distances across the open ocean. They often visit coastal and offshore sites, and are commonly seen around oceanic islands, offshore pinnacles and seamounts.
– Breeding:
Like sharks, manta rays fertilises their eggs internally. They are ovoviviparous, meaning that the female hatches her eggs internally and then gives birth to live young, called pups. Female Manta Rays usually give birth to one or two pups at a time. At birth, mantas are about 1.2 m wide, and weigh about 45 kg! They spend the first few years of their life in shallow waters before heading further offshore.
– Status:
The manta ray is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. They used to be hunted in Australian waters for their liver oil and skin. Today, it is very rarely hunted, although in some parts of the world its numbers are in decline.
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