Atlantic manta (ray)

The Atlantic manta ray, also known as, giant manta ray, is the largest of all the species of skates and rays. It may be nearly twenty to twenty-two feet (six to six and a half meters) across, seventeen feet (five meters) long, and reach weights of 3,500 to 4,000 pounds (1,600 to 1,800 kilograms). This massive creature swims through the ocean with its wing-like fins as if it were flying. The word manta is Spanish for cloak or blanket, which is an appropriate name since the fins look like a cape or cloak.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichthyes

Order: Rajiformes

Family: Mobulidae

Genus: Mobula

Species: Birostris

The majestic Atlantic manta ray glides gracefully through the water on outstretched wing-like fins. These fins move smoothly and with flexibility because they do not have bones inside them but have cartilage instead. This cartilage is the same tissue as that which is inside a person's nose or ears. The manta belongs to a group of fish known as cartilaginous fish. The manta's flattened body is shaped like a diamond with a long, thin, whip-like tail which may make the ray up to seventeen feet (five meters) long. An adult manta can reach a weight close to 3,500 or 4,000 pounds (1,600 to 1,800 kilograms). These features make the manta the largest of all the skates and rays in this order of animals. Its skin color changes shades with age and may be reddish, olive-brown, or black on its back and may be gray with black spots or white on the underside. Sometimes a manta has white markings on its shoulders, behind its eyes, near its tail, and on the outside of its horn-like head fins.

At the point of its body where its head is, the Atlantic manta ray has two horn-like or paddle-like fins in front of its mouth. These fins are called cephalic fins and channel food into the manta's mouth as it swims along and scoops food from the water. The diet of the manta includes plankton, or small organisms, shrimp, and small fish which it filters from the water with special gill arches. The water is then pumped out through the gills on the bottom side of the manta. The manta uses the same system for breathing. It feeds most often in deep water between the surface and midway to the bottom. Sometimes it swims near coastlines in shallower inlets and estuaries.

This giant creature is quite gentle and presents little threat to human beings. Divers have sometimes grabbed hold of a manta and been given a ride. Although the manta may sometimes have a spine near its dorsal fin, or back fin, it is not poisonous. This ray species also does not give electrical shocks. The manta's fins are very powerful and can give quite a blow to someone as the manta moves through the water. Anglers do not fish for mantas even though they could provide a lot of meat. A hooked manta puts up a fierce fight and can damage or sink a small boat if it leaps from the water, flies through the air, and lands on the boat.

Mantas often swim and feed in small groups. They may lie near the surface and warm themselves in the sun. It is common for them also to gain speed in the water and then to leap into the air. These short flights end with a tremendous splash and loud smacking sound like that of a cannon shot or a clap of thunder. It is possible that this is simple play, but it may also remove some parasites or stun prey in the water beneath them.

Baby mantas, called pups, hatch from eggs while still inside their mothers and then are born live. This called ovoviviparous reproduction. Mating season typically occurs December through April and gestation is approximately one year. A female gives birth to one pup every two to three years. Each pup may weigh up to twenty pounds (nine kilograms) and be up to four feet (just over one meter) across at birth. It feeds on its mother's milk at first. As a young ray it eats anchovies, shrimp, and crustaceans and then is able to eat larger fish as it becomes an adult. It does not appear to mate for the first time until its wing-like pectoral fins measure fourteen to fifteen feet (four to four and a half meters).

The life span of Atlantic manta rays is thought to be about forty to fifty years. The conservation status of the Atlantic manta ray is vulnerable.

Bibliography

Cybele, Corina. “Manta Ray.” A-Z Animals, 2 Apr. 2023, www.a-z-animals.com/animals/manta-ray/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2024.

NOAA. “Giant Manta Ray.” National Ocean Service Website, 21 Nov. 2023, www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/giant-manta-ray/overview. Accessed 27 Mar. 2024

Shuraleff II, Gregory. “Manta birostris.” Animal Diversity Web, 2000, www.animaldiversity.org/accounts/Manta‗birostris/. Accessed 27 Mar. 2024.