THE MANTA
- Friendly Fins
- Dec 17, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 7
The coastal manta ray: mobula alfredi
Why you should know about manta rays
“Simply because we are the dancers of the ocean, we will know how to enchant you with our dances and our gaze of an intense blue, like the sea…”
These extraordinary animals have always been the protagonists of fantastic stories told by sailors who sailed through unknown oceans. The first time they were sighted by some Spanish navigators during the great explorations and were called precisely “mantas” meaning “blankets” in Spanish.
They are divided into two species: the oceanic manta and the coastal manta, mobula alfredi precisely.
How we recognize manta rays:
The kite shape is absolutely adapted to underwater flight with their long, wing-like pectoral fins, moved in an elegant and delicate way.
It is a fish and therefore spends its entire life in water and breathes through large gills located on its belly.
“We don’t come to the surface to breathe”
The coloration is typical of pelagic animals: dark back with some lighter shades and white belly with curious black spots.
“When we float in the water our white belly will shine in the blue, stealing your gaze!”
They can reach considerable dimensions: 4-5 m wingspan for the coastal manta ray and 7-8 m for the oceanic manta ray.
Very wide mouth, with very small rudimentary teeth only on the mandible.
“We are not dangerous!”
They have two cephalic fins located on the sides of the mouth: they are used as “paddles” to channel food towards it and kept rolled up to obtain a hydrodynamic shape during swimming.
“It’s our distinctive feature: only we and our cousins the mobulas have these fins!”
Short, thin tail with a small dorsal fin a few centimeters from it.
Where the manta ray lives
The manta ray lives in many tropical seas of the world: from the Caribbean to Indonesia, it is easy to find it both by snorkeling and diving. In the Maldives it frequents the external part of the Maldivian atolls, near the channels that connect the outside with the inside of the atoll, called passes. This is its favorite environment because all the plankton-rich water transported by the currents is channeled here.
Manta rays also often frequent cleaning stations.
They are coral formations rich in life but especially in particular small fish called cleaner fish. They are part of many different families but with a single goal: to eat parasites, waste, fragments of skin of other animals. Unfortunately the sea is very rich in parasites that can create major problems in feeding, breathing and swimming. So the cleaning stations are very famous places among the inhabitants of the sea and attract visitors from everywhere including the manta rays and, above all, the adult females.
“For us they are real SPAs, we love meeting there with many friends, letting ourselves be gently cleaned by these splendid helpers, while we relax in company.”
What does the manta ray eat?
Plankton includes all those organisms that are unable to swim but are dragged by the currents, they are an infinite number of different animals of the most varied sizes. Nothing easier to eat! Manta rays are fond of plankton and all they have to do is open their large mouths in the direction of the current and filter this food through their gills. They like it so much that they feed on nothing else, they are in fact planktophagous animals.
The life of the coastal manta ray:
The manta ray lives about 40 years and has a long life cycle:
Females become sexually mature at 8 years of age, while males become sexually mature at 6 years of age.
The mating season is between October/November and March/April when there is the change of season given by the summer and winter monsoon.
The courtship phase is very long and begins with the release of pheromones by the female, which are picked up by the males who will have many tests to overcome before earning mating.
Mating occurs belly to belly with the male biting the female's left pectoral fin to hold her still.
The gestation lasts 11 months and will give birth to a single calf weighing 11 kg who will immediately start a life of his own..
In manta rays, as in sharks, the sex can be distinguished: the males have two penises (ptegypodia) at the base of the anal fins, near the tail, which are more or less visible depending on the maturity of the animal, while the females have nothing.
Manta ray migration:
Coastal manta rays are migratory animals driven by food needs, they are always in search of their beloved plankton!
They do not face very long distances though: they cross the atolls of the Maldives twice a year:
During the winter monsoon, from May to October, which blows from the S-W, they reach the Baa atoll (North East Maldives) and position themselves in the channels, gathering in large numbers especially in the famous Hanifaru bay.
During the summer monsoon, from November to April, which blows from the N-E, many of the individuals from Baa Atoll move south-west to Ari Atoll; while others move north-west to Raa Atoll.
“We are faithful migrants and from year to year we always return to the same place (more or less), it is very important for us to find our winter and summer homes. We also have our homes!”
Manta Predators:
Manta rays are extremely intelligent and peaceful animals but sometimes they are prey to sharks. If the bite is not fatal, however, they are able to survive: the cartilaginous skeleton and the habit of frequenting the "cleaning stations" leads to a good healing of the wound and therefore a long life!
“We are good-hearted and do not hurt anyone, but Nature is Nature and unfortunately we have no defenses against large sharks. Our special skin, however, often allows us to save ourselves from their attacks.”
Even humans are busy hunting them, not so much for the meat but for the gill arches (parts of the gills), used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Unfortunately, however, these magnificent animals often get caught in abandoned nets and, always having to swim to breathe, entrapment is fatal.
Drawing of a small manta ray
“If you see an abandoned net or fishing line, please remove it from the sea because we can’t always see it and we get entangled in it and risk dying!”
Differences between manta, sting ray, mobula and eagle ray:
There is often confusion in recognizing these animals, let's clarify a bit:
The sting ray lives on the seabed or near it, it has a mostly discoid shape with a long and thin tail equipped with one or more spines.
The mobula, also called sea devil, is similar in shape to the manta ray but smaller and with a brown coloration on the back, its cephalic fins are horizontal and not curved downwards like in manta rays. It lives in large groups.
The sea eagle ray always has a kite shape but is much smaller than the manta ray and above all has a very evident rostrum (muzzle) with a mouth equipped with teeth, in fact it does not eat plankton but fish. The back is very dark and in some species decorated with small white polka dots. It also has a long tail that it uses as a whip for defensive purposes.
Anyone who has the pleasure of meeting manta rays will be absolutely hypnotized by their tremendously deep gaze, which releases extraordinary emotions for anyone who knows how to capture them.
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