MANTA RAYS

One of the seas most graceful pelagics, the manta ray is the largest of all the ray species and one of the biggest creatures in the sea. Mantas are found throughout the tropics and in temperate waters on or near coral reefs. They are principally plankton feeders and usually inhabit areas where there is a good flow of 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. Another member of the group are mobula rays, a smaller animal that looks much the same but mobulas are nearly always seen in groups and are less patterned with just a dark collar behind their mouths and a brown tinge to their skin. The markings on their stomachs – blotches, dashes and streaks – are unique to each animal and can be used to identify them.