Pygmy devil ray

Source: Robin Bad / iNaturalist.org.

The common name "pygmy devil ray" can apply to two different animals: Mobula munkiana and Mobula kuhlii, which is the one we will be discussing today! Also known as the "longhorned mobula," they are a species of ray in the Mobulidae family and are endemic to the Indo-Pacific region. In Australia, this species was previously referred to as Mobula eregoodootenkee, a junior synonym (White et al. 2017).

Found only in the Indian Ocean and central-west Pacific Ocean, one can find them from South Africa to the Philippines, Vietnam, and even Australia! The pygmy devil rays love to munch on plankton and small fish-- and there is plenty of that in their home range!  A brown-grey color, they can grow up to 100 cm in width and are probably bycatch in fisheries in southeast Asia. 

They are a viviparous (with placenta), only giving birth to a single pup in shallow waters. The IUCN has assessed them as Near Threatened (NT).

WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS ANIMAL?

GLOSSARY

• ​Endemic: Native to a specific region or environment and not occurring naturally anywhere else.
• IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature.​
• Viviparous with yolk-sac: Also known as aplacental viviparous and previously known as ovoviviparous/ovoviviparity; it is the production of eggs that are fertilised and hatch inside the female shark but the embryos lack a placental connection to the oviduct or uterus and so do not feed off the mother.

SAY HELLO!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

THORNBACK RAY

GREENEYE SPURDOG

BIRDBEAK DOGFISH