Manta Ray Introduction:

The Manta Ray is a large species of flattened fish, closely related to other cartilaginous fish such as sharks. The Manta Ray is the largest species of ray in the world with some Manta Ray individuals reaching up to 9 meters wide.

The Manta Ray is most commonly found in the warmer, tropical of waters of the world’s oceans, typically around coral reefs and along the continental shelves where food is in abundance. However, due to their enormous size, Manta Rays are also commonly spotted hunting out in the open ocean.

The Manta Ray is a solitary animal and is also a graceful swimmer. Like other large species of fish, Manta Rays swim by moving their pectoral fins up and down which propels their enormous body through the surrounding water.

The short tail of the Manta Ray also allows the ray to be more acrobatic with its movement, and they have been seen leaping out of the water. Manta Rays are known to frequently visit cleaning stations where small fish such as wrasse and angelfish swim in the ray’s gills and over its skin to feed, in the process cleaning it of parasites and dead tissue.

Manta rays are generally not interested in eating these smaller fish as they are providing a great service to the Manta Ray. Unlike many sharks, Manta Rays do not actually have teeth and instead sieve food particles out of the water using rows of tiny plates in their mouths, which they funnel in their mouths as they swim.

Manta Rays eat tiny marine organisms including microscopic plankton, small fish and crustaceans. Despite its large size, the relatively docile nature of the Manta Ray means that it is actually preyed upon by a number of large marine predators. Large species of sharks such as the great white sharks, killer whales and humans are known to hunt the manta ray.