Manta Rays Unusual Characteristics

Flattened Body Shape

• Manta rays, which were derived from stingrays, maintain the same flattened body shape as their earlier ancestors. This shape facilitates bottom feeding on plankton, crustaceans and small fish, and allows the mantas to hide in the sediment along the ocean floor, to avoid being discovered by predators.

Wings

• Often referred to as wings, manta rays have powerful triangular pectoral fins that are wing-like in appearance. Mantas undulate these wings to propel them through the water. These wings enable them to flip and perform somersaults in the water.

Cephalic Lobes

• Also called cephalic fins -- cephalic lobes -- located on either side of a manta's mouth, are extensions of the pectoral fins. They are rolled inward when a manta is swimming, to reduce drag, and flattened outward for eating. Their purpose is to act like a scoop and help move water containing plankton and tiny crustaceans toward the manta's mouth.

Mouth

• Unlike many rays, mantas have terminal mouths, meaning their mouths are positioned at the end of their head. Most of the rays in the family Myliobatidae have subterminal mouths, which means their mouths are on the underside of their heads. Mantas have rows of tiny teeth, only on the lower jaw, which are usually indistinguishable from the mantas denticles (scales in the mouth). Their teeth are not used for feeding, but are used during mating, as the male latches onto the female by grabbing one of her wings with his teeth.

Cartilaginous Skeleton

• The skeleton of the manta ray is fully cartilaginous, meaning a ray literally does not have one bone in its entire body. Cartilage is more flexible and less rigid than bone, which provides more freedom of movement for the ray.

Barbless Tail

• As opposed to most rays that have at least one stinging barb on their tails, the tail of the manta ray contains no barbs. The main purpose of these venomous barbs is to protect rays from predators. One theory for the evolutionary loss of this barb is that manta rays have few natural predators, mainly large, warm-water sharks, and the barbs are largely ineffective against them.