(2016) found that Giant Manta Rays off Ecuador feed in surface waters, along with the mesopelagic zone.
Mantas have gills modified into complex sieving plates through which filter plankton from the water.īurgess et al. Manta rays have a broad mouth at the end of the head with a single band of minute teeth in the upper jaw. They have two cephalic lobes on the front of their heads that help direct water flow into the mouth. Grows to a disc width (DW) of at least 7 metres, and possibly to more than 9 metres. Giant Manta Rays aggregate around Ningaloo Reef during autumn and winter. Widespread, although relatively uncommon in Australian waters also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is circumglobal - usually offshore, often around oceanic islands, sometimes coastal, and most common in tropical waters. Mobula birostris (Walbaum 1792) More Info