Devil rays

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Devil rays
Jumping devil ray

Jumping devil ray

Systematics
Subclass : Euselachii
Subclass : Plate gill (Elasmobranchii)
without rank: Stingray (batoidea)
Order : Myliobatiformes
Family : Mobulidae
Genre : Devil rays
Scientific name of the  family
Mobulidae
Gill , 1893
Scientific name of the  genus
Mobula
Rafinesque , 1810
Mobula thurstoni , ventral side

The genus of the devil rays ( Mobula ) occurs with eight species worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. The genus includes the two largest rays in the world, the Reef Manta ( M. alfredi ) and the Giant Manta ( M. birostris ) with a total length of up to 8 meters, a span of up to 7 meters and a maximum weight of 1300 kg.

features

Devil rays are medium to very large rays with a rhombus-shaped body disk that is wider than it is long. The actual trunk is flattened, but still relatively thick compared to that of other rays. The head is broad and flattened. Characteristic of the genus are the conspicuous, forward-facing, fin-like lobes that sit on the side of the head and serve to guide plankton into the large mouth. The eyes are on the sides of the head. The spray holes are approximately round to slot-shaped. The mouth is very wide, almost straight and terminal or slightly below. The upper and lower jaws or the lower jaw alone are covered with numerous small teeth arranged in rows. The whip-shaped tail is long but short compared to the tail of most other rays. Usually it is shorter than the width of the body disc. A small triangular dorsal fin is located above the base of the pelvic fin. The tail can in some cases have a small toothed spine. A caudal fin is missing. The skin of the devil rays is smooth and scaly or rough and covered with many small denticles . The gill pockets are filled with numerous gill plates (50 to almost 140). The gill plates are thin and membranous or slightly horny with a cartilaginous base.

Way of life

Devil rays live pelagically as solitary animals, in pairs or in small groups and eat zooplankton, shrimp and sometimes small fish. They differ from other rays in the way they move. While the primitive guitar fish and sawfish and the jitter Roche-like move around like most sharks by strain snaking of the body and the tail fin and the genuine rays do this by undulating movements of their large pectoral fins, hitting Devil Rays as the eagle rays with fins, like birds with their Wings. The devil rays are ovoviviparous .

Systematics

The genus Mobula was introduced in 1810 by the American polymath Constantine S. Rafinesque-Schmaltz when describing Mobula auriculata (now a synonym for Mobula mobular ). As early as 1829, the English zoologist Edward Nathaniel Bancroft established the genus Manta for the giant manta ray described by Johann Julius Walbaum in 1792 as Raja birostris . Both genera were combined in the subfamily Mobulinae and assigned to the family of eagle rays (Myliobatidae). The subfamily has recently been increasingly classified as an independent family. Since the genus Mobula paraphyletic in terms of Manta was - Mobula mobular is the sister species of formed the Giant Manta and the Reef Manta Ray clade - the genre was Manta in June 2017 Mobula synonymised , so the family Mobulidae only one genus contains and thus monotypical is .

species

literature

  • William T. White, Shannon Corrigan, Lei Yang, Aaron C. Henderson, Adam L. Bazinet, David L. Swofford, Gavin JP Naylor: Phylogeny of the manta and devilrays (Chondrichthyes: mobulidae), with an updated taxonomic arrangement for the family . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2017, June, 1–26, DOI: 10.1093 / zoolinnean / zlx018

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ White et al. (2017), pages 7–8
  2. ↑ Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fish , Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6 , page 236
  3. ↑ Poortvliet, M., Olsen, JL, Croll, DA, Bernardi, G., Newton, K., Kollias, S., O'Sullivan, J., Fernando, D., Stevens, G., Magaña, FG, Seret, B., Wintner, S. & Hoarau, G. (2014): A dated molecular phylogeny of manta and devil rays (Mobulidae) based on mitogenome and nuclear sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, November 12, 2014. doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2014.10.012 , ISSN  1055-7903
  4. ↑ White et al. (2017)
  5. ↑ Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., Adnet, S., Bennett, M., Broadhurst, MK, Fernando, D., ma, DF, Jabado, RW, Laglbauerm BJL & Stevens, G. (2019): Taxonomic status, biological notes, and conservation of the longhorned pygmy devil ray Mobula eregoodoo (Cantor, 1849). Aquatic Conservation, Marine and Freshwaters Ecosystems, November 2019. doi: 10.1002 / aqc.3230

Web links

Commons : Devil Rays ( Mobula )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files