Reef Manta Ray

Mobula alfredi

Broad mobile cephalic fins Dark dorsal and light underside, however the distribution of black and white is very variable.

Size : 500 cm

Habitat : From the surface to about 40 m. Alone or in group. Regularly visits cleaner stations. Feeds on plankton that it filters with open mouth while swimming throughout the water. The reef manta usually swimming costal vicinity within a few kilometers of land, and can regularly be seen along reefs. The Gian Manta (Manta birostris) with a span width of up to more than 100 cm is larger and further distributed, lives further from the coast and possibly make long migrations. Therefore reef mantas are usually seen around rock and coral reefs.

Distribution : Circumtropical in land and reef vicinity.

Classification

KINGDOM

:

Animalia

PHYLUM

:

Chordata

CLASS

:

Elasmobranchii

ORDER

:

Myliobatiformes

FAMILY

:

Mobulidae

GENUS

:

Mobula

SPECIES

:

Mobula alfredi

Other Information

Population Status

Vulnerable (VU)

PHOTO COLLECTION

Reference

  1. inaturalist.org
  2. Reef Fishes of the Indo-Pacific. Book by Matthias Bergbauer and Manuela Kirschner