![]() ![]() Mobula alfredi is similar in appearance to Mobula birostris and the two species may be confused as their distribution overlaps. The markings can often be used to recognise individual fish. The ventral surface is white, sometimes with dark spots and blotches. ![]() The color of the dorsal side is dark black to midnight blue with scattered whitish and greyish areas on top head. The manta ray does not have a spiny tail as do the closely related devil rays ( Mobula spp.). It has a small dorsal fin and the tail is long and whip-like. The eyes and the spiracles are on the side of the head behind the cephalic fins, and the five gill slits are on the ventral (under) surface. These can be rolled up in a spiral for swimming or can be flared out to channel water into the large, forward-pointing, rectangular mouth when the animal is feeding. At the front, it has a pair of cephalic fins which are forward extensions of the pectoral fins. It is dorsoventrally flattened and has large, triangular pectoral fins on either side of the disc. The reef manta ray can grow to a disc size of up to 5 m (16 ft) but average size commonly observed is 3 to 3.5 m (11 ft). 1.1 Physical distinctions between oceanic manta ray and reef manta ray.However, there are distinguishing features. Mobula birostris is similar in appearance to Mobula alfredi and the two species may be confused as their distribution overlaps. Compared to the giant oceanic manta ray, the reef manta ray tends to be found in shallower, more coastal habitats, but local migrations are sometimes reported. The reef manta ray is found widely in the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific, but with a few records from the tropical East Atlantic and none from the West Atlantic or East Pacific. birostris, the status of the reef manta ray as a separate species was only confirmed in 2009. ![]() Reef manta rays are typically 3 to 3.5 m (9.8 to 11.5 ft) in disc width, with a maximum size of about 5.5 m (18 ft). It was originally described as part of the genus Manta but in 2017 was changed, along with the rest of the mantas, to be included as part of the genus Mobula. alfredi in honor of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the first member of the British royal family to visit Australia. The species was described in 1868 by Gerard Krefft, the director of the Australian Museum. Among generally recognized species, it is the second-largest species of ray, only surpassed by the giant oceanic manta ray (a currently unrecognized species from the Caribbean region also appears to be larger than the reef manta ray). The reef manta ray ( Mobula alfredi) is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae, one of the largest rays in the world. ![]()
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