Manta ray
Mobula birostris
The giant oceanic manta ray, giant manta ray, or oceanic manta ray is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae and the largest type of ray in the world. It is circumglobal and is typically found in tropical and subtropical waters but can also be found in temperate waters.
Manta flesh is edible and eaten in some countries, but it's unattractive compared to other fish. Thousands of mantas are caught each year mainly for their gill rakers, which have entered the Chinese medicine trade.
Manta rays live in warm temperate, subtropical, and tropical waters worldwide, recorded as far north as North Carolina and as far south as New Zealand's North Island. They're filter feeders that gather large amounts of zooplankton with open mouths, and they dive deep, with tracked depths past 1,250 m.
Also known as
- devilfish
Manta ray in foreign languages
| Scientific | Mobula birostris |
| Hebrew | מנטה ענק |
| Spanish | Mantarraya |
| Portuguese | Jamanta |
| French | Raie manta océanique |
| German | Riesenmanta |
| Greek | Σαλάχι μάντα |
| Russian | Манта |
| Turkish | Deniz şeytanı |
| Chinese | 雙吻前口蝠鱝 |
| Japanese | オニイトマキエイ |
| Korean | 대왕쥐가오리 |
| Hindi | ओशनिक मंटा रे |
| Vietnamese | Cá nạng hải |
| Thai | ปลากระเบนแมนตามหาสมุทร |
| Indonesian | Pari manta raksasa |
Gallery
- A cartilaginous relative of sharks with fins but no true scales, so it is not kosher.
- Both manta species are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, and the giant oceanic manta was listed as endangered in 2020.