The bentfin devil ray (''Mobula thurstoni''), also known as the lesser devil ray, smoothtail devil ray, smoothtail mobula or Thurston's devil ray, is a species of

ray Ray or RAY may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), the bony or horny spine on ray-finned fish Science and mathematics * Half-line (geometry) or ray, half of a line split at an ...

in the family

Mobulidae The Mobulidae (manta rays and devilfishes) are a family of rays consisting mostly of large species living in the open ocean rather than on the sea bottom. Taxonomy The Mobulidae have been variously considered a subfamily of the Myliobatidae by ...

. It is found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate oceans, with records from

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, the

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, United States (

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and throughout the central and western Pacific. It likely occurs in many other locations in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate oceans. It is found both offshore and near the coast.

Description

The bentfin devil ray can reach a disc width of and weigh about . The length of the disc is about 1.95 times its width. The front edge of the disc is nearly straight near the snout, but curves sinuously as it approaches the broad, triangular pectoral fins. The back edge is concave, becoming straight as it approaches the tail. On either side of the snout are cephalic flaps, and the mouth is on the underside of the head. The dorsal fin is about 80% as high as it is long. The length of the tail is between half the disc width and the whole disc width, and the tail does not bear a spine. The upper surface of this ray varies from dark grey to olive-gray, and the under surface is white. The rear of the tip of the pectoral fins is black and the front edge of these fins is white, as is the tip of the dorsal fin.

Distribution and habitat

This species is probably circumglobal, and has been recorded from tropical and sub-tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. In inshore waters it is mainly

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

, seldom going as deep as .

Ecology

Like other closely related species, the bentfin devil ray feeds on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

. It funnels water into its mouth as it swims. The ray filters plankton from the water through its gill rakers. In the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

, the commonest item in the diet is ''

Nyctiphanes simplex ''Nyctiphanes'' is a genus of krill, comprising four species with an anti-tropical distribution. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses of the cytochrome oxidase gene and 16S ribosomal DNA, ''Nyctiphanes'' is believed to have evolved during t ...

'', a species of

krill Krill ''(Euphausiids)'' (: krill) are small and exclusively marine crustaceans of the order (biology), order Euphausiacea, found in all of the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian language, Norwegian word ', meaning "small ...

, but this fish also feeds seasonally on opossum shrimps.

Status

''Mobula thurstoni'' is a large fish with a high age at maturity and a low fecundity rate, producing a single pup at a time. Although it has a wide range, it is targeted by fisheries in some regions and is caught as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

in gill nets and by trawling in others. There are reports of landings in Indonesia, the Philippines, Mexico and Brazil, and it is likely that it is landed in other places like West Africa. In eastern Asia the gill rakers are valued in addition to the flesh. The population trend is unknown but the fish is reported as uncommon. For these reasons, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has rated its conservation status as being "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Mobula thurstoni''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3280996 Mobula Pantropical fish Fish described in 1908 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot