#manta

[unteriors]

Manta, Manabí Province, Ecuador.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: manta rays

It's time to spread our wings and fly, or rather swim, into another Wet Beast Wednesday. This week's topic is the wonderfully wide manta ray. These gentle giants have historically been misunderstood as dangerous and scary, but now we know better. Here's the real facts.

(Image: a SCUBA diver swimming alongside a giant manta ray, seen from above. It is a large stingray with pointed, wing-like fins along the side of its body and a large head with short tail. Two fin-like cephalic lobes extend from either side of the mouth. The back of the body is black, body with white marking on the head, just before the tail, and the tips of the wings. End ID)

Manta rays are two species of stingray: the giant manta ray Mobula birostris and reef manta ray Mobula alfredi. Mantas have historically been classified as members of their own genus, Manta, but as of 2017, they have been reclassified as members of the genus Mobula, the devil rays. In addition, the two species were thought to be the same species until 2009. As with other rays, they have flattened, disc-shaped bodies with their pectoral fins being enlarged to take up each side of the body. While bottom-swelling stingrays have rounded pectoral fins, manta ray fins have developed into pointed, wing-like structures that are used for active swimming. The width of the ray (measured from wingtip to wingtip) is about 2.2 times the length (not including the tail) in both species. The tail is shorter than the length of the body and has no stinger. Unlike most ray species, the mouth is located on the front of the body. On either side of the mouth is a fin-like cephalic lobe. These fleshy growths are flexible and are used to aid in feeding and possibly communication. Giant mantas reach a max width of 7 m (23 ft), but the average adult size is 4.5 m (15 ft). Reef mantas reach a maximum width of 5.5 m (18 ft) and an average of 3 m (10 ft). They are the largest and second largest rays in the world.

(Image: a group of reef mantas seen from the front. They are similar to the giant manta, but smaller and the white marking on their baks are more curved. Their mouths are open and the cephalic fins are curved to sit beneath the mouth. Inside the toothless mouth, the inside of the gill slits can be seen. Bits of the white underbelly are visible. End ID)

Manta rays are found in tropical to subtropical waters. Giant manta rays are found worldwide while reef mantas are primarily found in the Indo-Pacific, thought they have been recorded in the Atlantic ocean on a few occasions. Reef mantas are normally found in shallower, coastal waters while giant mantas will swim through the open ocean. They are somewhat social, sometimes swimming in groups of up to 50, but will also live on their own. Feeding is done by swimming with their mouths open and cephalic lobes angled to direct water into the mouth. They are filter feeders, targeting krill, plankton, algae, and oceanic larvae. While feeding, mantas will swim in different ways, including making somersaults. Mantas feeding in groups will perform coordinated swimming maneuvers, including swimming in giant circles. Giant mantas have been observed making dives to 400 m (1,300 ft) and they appear to target larger food at these depths, such as small fish. as with the other Mobula rays, mantas will breach out of the water. The reason they do this isn't clear. It could be to clear parasites, communicate, or for fun.

(Image: a manta in the process of breaching, with only its rear end still in the water. It is pointing straight into the air, leaving its back and the white markings on it clearly visible. End ID)

Manta rays are known as some of the smartest fish in the world. They have the largest brain-to-body size ratio of any fish. Manta rays are among the only fish capable of passing the mirror test for self awareness. The mirror test is used to determine if an animal can recognize its reflection as being itself rather than another member of its species. Manta rays exposed to mirrors showed some unique behavior that is not what they do when encountering other manta rays. This included blowing bubbles and swimming in odd ways that may be used to examine themselves or test if the reflection really is them. Manta rays are also excellent navigators, able to repeatedly find the same feeding sports or cleaner fish stations from thousands of miles away. This would indicate an excellent memory and the ability to develop a mental map of areas. Manta rays also have the ability to remember other individuals and have been shown to have a preference for spending time around specific "friends". They are also believed to engage in play behavior including acrobatic swimming with each other and maybe jumping. Playing for no purpose other than fun is a rare traits usually seen in intelligent and social species. Divers have reported that mantas are curious and will come investigate them.

(GIF: footage of a manta ray undergoing the mirror test. It is swimming up to the mirror, pausing for a second, then swimming parallel to the mirror, with the stomach facing it. End ID)

Manta ray mating seems to be triggered by the full moon and takes place at different times of the year depending on location. A male will follow a female moving at speeds of about 10 km/h (6.2 mph) and try to grab her fin in his mouth, which may take several attempts. Once he has a good grip, he will moved so their undersides are facing each other and insert a clasper into her cloaca. Claspers are paired appendages in male cartilaginous fish that are extensions of the pelvic fins that function similarly to penises. Semen runs down a groove in the clasper into the female's oviduct. The pair will then part. Females are left with scars on their fins where the males bite them. The quantity of scars can help determine how many times a female has mated. Oftentimes, a female will be followed by a train of multiple males, all attempting to mate with her. Females will bear usually one but sometimes two babies at once. Mantas are ovoviviparous, meaning the female will retain an egg inside of her that will hatch internally once the yolk supply is depleted. Once hatched, the juvenile remains inside the oviduct for some time, being fed by a milky-white nutritious substance called histotroph that the mother secretes. Once the juvenile exits the mother, it is on its own, receiving no parental care. Gestation takes 12-13 months. Mild females typically get pregnant every 1-2 years. Females seem to reach sexual maturity at 8-10 years can can live to 50 years old in the wild.

(Images: black and white photos of a manta ray giving birth. The first photo shows the juvenile having just exited the mother. The second shows the juvenile after leaving the mother, resting on some coral. The juvenile exits the mother with its fins curled up like a burrito. End ID)

The IUCN classified reef mantas as Vulnerable and giant mantas as Endangered. Their largest threat comes from overfishing, both targeted and as bycatch. Mantas are fished fro their skin, meat, and liver oil. More recently, a demand for manta gill rakers in alternative (read: quack) medicine has led to an increase in fishing and poaching after a historical decrease. Mantas are highly vulnerable to becoming entangled in fishing lines and nets. Because they need to continuously swim to force air over their gills, an entangled manta will quickly suffocate. Their attempts to free themselves typically just gets them more tangled. Manta rays are also vulnerable to boat strikes, pollution, climate change, and microplastic ingestion. Mantas are now protected in international waters by the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals and have local protections on many places. Manta ray tourism has become an industry that brings in an estimated US$140 million per year to local economies. Tourists are offered the chance to observe manta rays in the wild on boat and SCUBA trips. While manta ray tourism can increase awareness of their conservation needs, it can also lead to in increased risk of injury and disease transmission to the rays. Manta rays in the past were often feared by sailors due to their size. They were named devil rays due to their cephalic lobes resembling horns and were believed to pull up anchors and drag ships off course.

(Image: Inspector Clouseau, a pink manta ray seen off Lady Elliot Island, Australia. It is believed to be the result of a mutation in pigment cells and is the only known case of a pink manta. End ID)

[anonbeadraws]

More confluence work. The Motley Coast is full of what some other planes might think are aquatic life, but here, airracuda, sluice manta and the majestic and vast skywhale's populate the skies!! Find out more about these creatures on our twitter! All work here is mine!

[miss-mossball]

In love

[marinebioblr]

Oceanic manta rays are the largest species of ray in the world, with a wingspan of up to 26 feet. Despite their immense size, they are completely harmless to divers - they have no barbs to speak of, unlike stingrays, and spend their time filtering the water for plankton with the help of their cephalic lobes (the big paddles on each side of their mouths). Socorran mantas have grown very used to divers, and often seek out our bubble curtains seemingly because they feel good and may help clear away parasites!

[lorenzonuti]

The Black Manta.

Now available for purchase on INPRNT

[lucyjung]

TP Dolphin's past.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Manta

Debut: Super Mario 64

Did you know? Manta was not something invented by Super Mario 64. This is actually a clever reference, a public domain cameo from something else! It's called "animals" and it is one of my favorite works. Check it out sometime!

Manta's first appearance is in Super Mario 64, where it has a Special Ability... and a Reward! You know it has a reward because of the Star called The Manta Ray's Reward, but you know it has a Special Ability because it trails bubble rings behind it! Swimming through a ring will replenish Mario's oxygen, making this manta an ideal Support party member when paired with a mammal on an underwater stage. Unfortunately, MultiVersus removed the Support role, so Manta will probably never be playable in that game. It will never get to provide Rick Sanchez with oxygen underwater. Wubba lubba dagnabbit!

The Manta Ray's reward is a star. It gives Mario a star if he swims through enough rings.

"Hi, it's me! Phantamanta! Can I join your manta post?"

Hi, Phantamanta! I'm sorry, but no. This post is about regular ol' manta rays. You are some kind of shadowghost made of magical electroslime. You have plenty of material all on your own, I promise!

"That's alright, I understand! I'll just be waiting outside until you're free to hang out! Trailing electric slime all over town."

Sounds great! Goodbye.

There have been a few different manta rays throughout the Mario series! There's Ray from Super Mario Galaxy. There are the goggle-wearing Jumbo Rays from NSMB Wii, and the big manta from Mario Kart 8 that uses a similar design. But there is one ray appearance that I find most fun of all.

Yeah, it's Mario Kart Tour again! Sorry! Just kidding, I'm not! Look at this. This is the Fire Manta Glider, one of a few variants of the base Manta Glider. With its gaping mouth flanked by cephalic fins, this particular manta model is the most realistic, and as a result, I think the best, because real mantas are one of the animals that we've normalized despite them being absolute freaks. And how can you make it even better?

Lore Implications, that's how! This may seem like just a depiction of a manta ray with a flame pattern, but this is the Mario world. Fire Mario isn't just an outfit swap for Mario, it's a power-up form! I think Fire Manta Glider is confirmation that manta rays, and presumably any other creature, could use power-ups if they wanted to and were in the right situation. We've seen blocks with Tanooki tails. A cartilaginous fish using a Fire Flower is far more normal than THAT!

[detectiveblur]

Sky: CotL commission 🕯️

[aonik]

[little-leaf-linden]

flying alone

[eightiesfan]

Opel Manta - 1982 (part 1/2)

[skyc47su]

Beauty and the Beast

An alternate universe where the ancestors of the Sky kingdom was spared from the effects of the Eden shards by the mercy of megabird, and transformed into half-creatures of the land.

When the ancestors lived on as centauroid creatures, they divided upon themselves as dark-taurs (consisting of krilltaurs, crabtaurs, merleviathans etc.) and light-taurs (mantataurs, mermanatees, merwhales, merturtles, merjellies and birdtaurs). Although the two did not see each other eye to eye, they nonetheless lived under one society.

Krilltaurs, crabtaurs, merturtles and merwhales tend to be chosen as guardians or guards. With shells as extra protection, they were excellent at warding off dark dragons and would-be trouble makers.

Deltos, a krilltaur, served as a guard of a humble little town situated in the Daylight Prairie. He met Soleil during patrol when the guard team he was in stumbled on her family's ranch near Prairie peaks. With Soleil sheltered from civilization, she was unprejudiced against dark-taurs, to which Deltos was charmed by.

-

Soleil is a SkyCOTL OC belonging to "Vanya" :D

This is an "Alternate universe" setting, as Deltos is one of my guard OCs who is the head guard of a travelling caravan.

But the thought of a centaur AU for SkyCOTL tickled my mind~

[gadflystings]

Veronika is the Random Skykid this time (#11). This is a sky kid from my constellation.

Pose reference under the cut (because the human isn't fully dressed, pose is drawn by the video with models) (and yes, i got far away from the reference pose this time ><).

[miss-mossball]

lookit my manta

[marinebioblr]

🌑 Black beauty! This manta is an example of the uncommon melanistic manta - a color mutation that results in more dark pigmentation than normal (like the opposite of albinism, which is a lack of pigmentation!) It lacks the white chevron on its back and white belly, making it truly striking.