Overview
Manta rays (fú fèn) are generally flat[1], wider than long,
Manta rays Pictures (40) can be up to 8 meters wide, weighing 3000 kg. The body disk is rhombic, one head is broad and flat; the end of the muzzle is wide and transversely flat; the pectoral fins are long and fat like wings, and in front of the head there are two prominent cephalic fins divided from the pectoral fins, located on both sides of the head; the tail is slender like a whip, with a small dorsal fin, and in some species there is a poisonous spine or more on the tail; the mouth is wide, anteriorly or inferiorly; the teeth are fine and numerous, and are arranged in a nearly paving-stone-like manner; there is a band of teeth on the upper and lower jaws or the upper jaws are toothless; the nostrils are located exactly on both sides of the mouth, and the exit hole is open at the corner of the mouth; the water outlet is open at the corner of the mouth. Outlet opening at the corner of the mouth; spout smaller, triangular, situated behind the eye, at a considerable distance from it; gill pores broad; girdle y arcuate, with a prolonged cusp at the middle. Ovipositor. Fossils are found in the Tertiary to Recent Period.
Manta rays are cartilaginous fish that live on the bottom of tropical and subtropical seas,
Manta rays
are known locally as "underwater devils," but they are actually very gentle animals. They feed mainly on plankton and small fish, often cruising around coral reefs. It swims slowly through the sea with its large flaps and uses its front fins and fleshy horns to flick plankton and other tiny creatures into its large mouth. When swimming, the cephalic fin curls outward from below into an angular shape toward the front; it sometimes swims in groups, with males and females often traveling together. Feeds primarily on planktonic crustaceans, and secondarily on schools of small fish. Gill rakers more keratinized, a series of feathery sieve plate, play a role in filtering water to retain food.
Characteristics
The manta ray is the largest species of ray. Although it is not aggressive,
Morphological features (3 photos) it is powerful enough to destroy small boats when disturbed. Its size and strength often frighten divers, because once it starts to rage, just with its powerful "double wings" a beat, it will touch the human bones, causing death. Manta rays also have very strange habits. It is lively and often plays pranks. Sometimes it intentionally swims to the bottom of the boat sailing in the sea, with the body wing knocking on the bottom of the boat, making "whirring, popping" sound, so that the people on board the boat alarmed; sometimes it runs to the side of the boat moored in the sea, the meat angle hanging on the boat's anchor chain, pulling up the small iron anchors, so that the people do not know what to do; or it is using the cephalic fins to hang themselves on the boat's anchor chain. Or it will use its head fin to hang itself on the anchor chain of the boat, dragging the boat to run around in the sea so fast that the fishermen think that it is "the devil", which is actually the manta ray's mischief.
The smallest manta ray is the Australian manta ray (Mobula diabolis), which is no more than 60 centimeters (2 feet) wide. The pre-mouth manta ray (Manta birostris) of the Atlantic Ocean is the largest species in the family, up to 7 meters (23 feet) wide. Black or brown in color, they are powerful but harmless.
The "tails" of manta rays (devil rays) may have a weak current but are not poisonous, whereas the "tails" of stingrays, which are somewhat similar in morphology, are highly poisonous, so be careful to differentiate them so as not to be misinterpreted.