OVERVIEW
IUCN Red List classification.
Sicklefin devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) are easily distinguished by their olive-green to brown dorsal surface, and dark ventral markings. However, divers sometimes mistake these species for manta rays due to grey ventral markings. Sicklefin devil rays are a wide-ranging species found throughout the tropics and warm temperate seas. They are also the deepest documented divers among the mobulids, reaching depths of 2,000m (6,562ft) where temperatures plummet to under 4 degrees Celsius.
The black and white bicolouration of their gill plates make this species quite identifiable in the gill plate trade where these ‘flower gills’ fetch the second highest price after manta gill plates, making this species the third most commonly traded mobulid ray after the oceanic manta ray and spinetail devil ray.
DISC WIDTH
Average: 200-270cm
Max: 340cm
WEIGHT
Up to 400kg
LIFESPAN
Unknown, but likely to be at least 15 years
KEY FEATURES
Olive-green or brown dorsal surface.
Grey ventral shading on posterior margin of pectoral fins, white anteriorly, with zigzagged margin between both.
Tail shorter than its disc width and covered in scales.
Distinctive pronounced ridge along dorsal midline.
Medium to large gill plates with fused lobes and rounded terminal lobe with distinctive midline ridge. Plates are distinctively bicoloured at halfway point with white inner lobes and black outer lobes.
Image credit: João Vieira Rodrigues
LATEST RESEARCH
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