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<\/A>Sting Rays at Bar Beach<\/A> * Narooma<\/A>
\n New South Wales<\/A>, Australia<\/A> <\/B> <\/DIV><\/P> <\/p>\n
Sting Rays: Manta Rays<\/B>
* Animalia * Chordata * Chondrichthyes * Elasmobranchii *Myliobatiformes * Myliobatidae * Manta * M. birostris * : aka: “Manta Ray, Sting Ray, Devil Fish, Manta” : *<\/I>
Age on planet: Early Miocene to Present<\/p>\n
As i visited Narooma<\/A>, Australia for my first time, I had the pleasure of experiencing in the wild, in the Bay, 4-5 very large Manta Rays coming up to shore getting the fish heads from fishermen cleaning their kill. It was a very invigorating experience. These wonderful creatures create a sense of awe, of fear, and intrigue in me. Probably from my first experience with a sting ray, snorkeling in Kino Bay, Mexico and being in a walled creviche face to face with a stingray which was rather unsettling as a child. Manta Rays are the largest species of the sting ray family and have been found to be upwards of 25 feet wide and weighing over 2,900 lbs.There is only one known species of Manta. (There is some debate there are two species – the Giant Manta (Manta birostris) and the Reef Manta (Manta alfredi) but scientists conclude they both have the same mitocondrial DNA). They can be found in any tropical waters on the globe but prefer to inhabit coral reefs as bottom-feeders and filter feeding. Mantas have a triangular pectoral “wing”-like body shape with paddle-like lobes extending in front of their mouths and are usually dark black, greyish blue, or brown on the upper surface with a pale underbelly and possess a large cavern-like mouth with 18 rows of teeth on the lower jaw. They feed on plankton, small fish, gill rakers, fish eggs, and seaweed that is filtered from the water passing through their mouths and out their gills as they swim. They are attracted to fish cleaning stations where they can prey on the wrasse, remora, and angelfish swim into the manta’s gills while they are feeding. They also swim in circular loops when concentrating on prey and appear to be flying through the water with some occurences of jumping out of the water. The Remoras are often found attached to their undersides with the Manta as a host consuming food particles that fall from the Manta’s mouth. Mantas copulate near the water’s surface in depths under a meter deep with male chasing female for upwards of a half hour until a train of suitors assemble, usually during the full moon. At some point the male bites the female’s pectoral fin moving its claspers into the cloaca for 1-2 minutes for copulation for when the eggs are inseminated and gestate upwards of 12 months, hatching internally, giving birth to live young of a litter of 1-2 pups. Medicinal use:<\/I> Mantas are used in Chinese medicine. <\/p>\n Following are photos of Manta Rays at:
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Bar Beach<\/A> * Narooma<\/A>
\n New South Wales<\/A>, Australia<\/A> <\/B> <\/p>\n