Giant Manta Ray, Mobula birostris (Walbaum 1792)

Other Names: Australian Devilray, Chevron Manta, Devilfish, Giant Manta, Oceanic Manta, Oceanic Manta Ray, Pacific Manta Ray, Pelagic Manta

A Giant Manta Ray, Manta birostris, in Thailand. Source: Jon Hanson / Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY Attribution-ShareAlike

Summary:

A blackish manta ray with an extremely broad head, long head fins, a terminal mouth, denticles covering the upper surface of the disc covered with denticles, and a short whip-like tail that usually lacks a spine.

Giant Manta Rays at Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia.

Giant Manta Rays filmed in Australia.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Mobula birostris in Fishes of Australia, accessed 02 Jul 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2035

Giant Manta Ray, Mobula birostris (Walbaum 1792)

More Info

Distribution	Off Exmouth, Western Australia, around the tropical north to at least the Solitary Islands, New South Wales; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Australian records need confirmation due to confusion with Manta alfredi. Elsewhere the species is circumglobal in tropical and temperate waters throughout the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans in coastal and pelagic waters from the surface to a depth of 1,000 m. The species occurs in areas with regular upwelling along coastlines, oceanic islands, and offshore pinnacles and seamounts. Giant Manta Rays aggregate around Ningaloo Reef during autumn and winter.
Features	Head extremely broad with long head fins; mouth terminal; upper surface of disc covered with denticles; tail usually lacking a spine.
Size	Usually to 700 cm DW (disc width).
Feeding	Manta rays have a broad mouth at the end of the head with a single band of minute teeth in the upper jaw. The two cephalic lobes on the front of the head help direct water flow including zooplankton and small fishes into the mouth. Mantas have gills modified into complex sieving plates, and filter plankton from the water, at the surface and mesopelagic depths.
Biology	The species has an extremely slow life history, producing only 1 pup on average every 4–5 years, and consequently is likely to have one of the lowest maximum rates of population increase (median 0.032 per year) of any elasmobranch. Males mature at 350–400 cm DW and females mature at 380–500 cm DW. Reproduction is aplacental viviparous with a single large pup of 122–200 cm DW. Reproductive periodicity is unknown, but assumed to be 4–5 years, similar to the closely related Reef Manta Ray (M. alfredi).
Fisheries	Giant Manta Ray populations have suffered from over-fishing as these slow-swimming giants are an easy target. The species is targeted or taken as bycatch in artisanal small-scale fisheries, as well as taken as bycatch in large-scale tuna fisheries. The meat is consumed locally, and the species is traded internationally due to the rapid rise of the valuable gill plate trade.
Conservation	IUCN Red List : Endangered CITES Listed : Appendix II
Remarks
Similar Species	Differs from Manta alfredi in size, coloration, morphometric measurements, and in having a caudal spine in a post-dorsal protuberance.
Etymology	The specific name birostris refers to the two horn-like cephalic lobes: bi- (= two) and rostrum (= snout).
Species Citation	Raja birostris Walbaum, 1792. Petri Artedi renovati 3: 535. Type locality: Unknown
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Giant Manta Ray, Mobula birostris (Walbaum 1792)

References

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