Classification
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA PHYLUM: CHORDATA CLASS: CHONDRICHTHYES ORDER: MYLIOBATIFORMES FAMILY: MOBULIDAE GENUS: Manta SPECIES: M. birostris |
Morphology
The Giant Oceanic Manta Ray is dorsoventrally flattened. It has triangular pectoral fins on each side. It can grow up to twenty three feet and weigh 2,980 pounds but usually are fifteen feet. |
![Picture](/uploads/2/4/0/4/24043028/660px-cypron-range-manta-birostris-svg.png?260)
Giant Manta Rays are found in the circumglobal, tropical and subtropical areas.
Facts:
- The Giant Manta Ray has the largest brain of all other fishes in the world.
- Giant Manta Rays jump clear of water, it is still unknown if it is a sign of play or communication.
- Host to fishes called remoras, and they consume left over food particles from the manta.
- The courtship of Giant Manta Rays can last for days.
- The estimated life span is about forty years.
Giant Manta Rays are filter feeders. They are huge animals but they eat small organisms. The Giant Manta Rays serve as vacuum cleaners of the ocean, keeping it clean. Many small animals swim under the fins of the manta rays because they are big and serve as protection against predators.
Giant Manta Rays are in danger. In China their fins are known "to cure cancer" but nothing is verified yet. Though their numbers are decreasing these rays have been able to survive because of their biological adaption to the ocean. They have very strong muscles in their fins that allows them to swim at a fast velocity. They are also very big which helps to steer off predators.
Giant Manta Rays are in danger. In China their fins are known "to cure cancer" but nothing is verified yet. Though their numbers are decreasing these rays have been able to survive because of their biological adaption to the ocean. They have very strong muscles in their fins that allows them to swim at a fast velocity. They are also very big which helps to steer off predators.
Vocabulary
- Dorsoventrally: relating to, involving, or extending along the axis joining the dorsal and ventral sides.
- Circumglobal: Distributed around the world within a range of latitudes.
- Filter feeder: (of an aquatic animal) feeding by filtering out plankton or nutrients suspended in the water.
- Pectoral fins: each of a pair of fins situated on either side just behind a fish's head, helping to control the direction of movement during locomotion. They correspond to the forelimbs of other vertebrates.
- Adaption: a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
http://www.mantarayofhope.com/learn/about-manta-and-mobula-rays/taxonomy-morphology-and-distribution/ Manta Ray of Hope
http://www.mesa.edu.au/seaweek2005/pdf/infosheet03.pdf The Roles of Manta Rays in the Ocean
http://www.mantaray-world.com/ Manta Ray Facts
http://www.arkive.org/giant-manta-ray/manta-birostris/ Giant Manta Rays
http://www.mesa.edu.au/seaweek2005/pdf/infosheet03.pdf The Roles of Manta Rays in the Ocean
http://www.mantaray-world.com/ Manta Ray Facts
http://www.arkive.org/giant-manta-ray/manta-birostris/ Giant Manta Rays