OVERVIEW
Throughout the reef habitats of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico there occurs a proposed third species of manta ray that is sympatric to the oceanic manta ray in this region. This putative ‘Caribbean’ manta ray (Mobula cf. birostris) appears to occupy a similar niche to the reef manta ray. It may well therefore be that some of the pioneering oceanic manta rays that crossed the open ocean to the Caribbean found plentiful sources of food along the inshore reefs and began to diverge into a new species - essentially, nature replicating the evolution of the reef manta ray again. However, although recent genetic analysis supports a degree of separation between these two groups, there remains uncertainty on the validity of this proposed speciation.
DISC WIDTH
Average: 300-400cm
Max: 500cm
WEIGHT
Up to 1,000kg
LIFESPAN
Likely to be around 40 years
KEY FEATURES
Dorsal white shoulder markings form two mirror image right-angled triangles, creating a ‘T’ in black. Although ‘T’ shape tapers together towards the bottom where it joins the back.
If present, ventral spots clustered around lower abdominal region.
Often have large patches of round or oblong shaded areas on the belly below the gills.
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