Courtship and Mating

When a female is ready to mate, males often chase after her and form a train.  Typically, four to eight manta rays following one female on the Kona Coast.  When mating, the male will swim on top of the female, grab the tip of her pectoral fin in his mouth, and insert a clasper into her cloaca.  The couple stays attached for a few seconds until the mating ends and the female swims away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reproduction

In regards to reproduction, most fish produce eggs. Manta rays are fish, however, they give birth to live young.  Some cartilaginous fish like manta rays are ovoviviparous.  The meaning of this word is as follows: ovum (egg), vivius (alive), and papere (to produce).  In other words, manta rays produce live young hatched from an egg. 

 

According to researchers, the manta ray embryo is not attached to the mother through an umbilical cord like other animals that give live birth.  Instead, manta rays obtain oxygen by buccal-pumping the uterine fluid in the same way embryos of egg-laying species do.  The uterine fluid is also thought to supply nutrients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gestation lasts for approximately one year.  Manta pups are born with their pectoral fins folded over themselves.  When they stretch out their wings, they are approximately three to six feet across depending on the species.  Female manta rays are thought to have only one pup every two to three years.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manta Cleaning Station

Manta rays have a symbiotic relationship with cleaner fish. The rays come to the reef hoping that cleaner fish will come to them. Cleaner fish swim over the manta’s body picking away at parasites and tissue.  Often times, the rays will frequent the same area over and over and these are referred to as cleaning stations.  In Hawaii, manta rays are cleaned by a small purple and yellow fish called the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides phthirophagus). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manta Feeding Behavior

Manta rays are one of the largest animals in the ocean and they feed on some of the smallest.  Manta rays feed on microscopic planktonic organisms such as copepods (miniscule crustaceans) along with some fish, lobster, and octopus larvae that float and swim in the open water.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When feeding, manta rays push through the water with their mouths opened wide.  This type of feeding is called ram-jet filter feeding.  As water passes through the body and out the gills, food and oxygen are trapped in five sets of meshwork plates called branchial filters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a study conducted by Dr. Csilla Ari (2008), Manta birostris feeding behavior was examined.  The study suggests that manta food searching behavior is goverened by triggering stimuli, including smell or visual recognition.  The study subject animal used its biological clock to predict time and also associated a specific location with food, suggesting an ability to build up a cognitive map of its environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Directions:

• GO to Laulima and log in with your user name and password.  

 

• Go to the Manta Naturalist Course site in your account.

 

• Then, go to the "Tests and Quizzes" link on the left side panel.  

 

• You are welcome to take the Module One Review (ungraded).

 

• When ready, go to Module One Quiz in the 'Test and Quizzes' section of Laulima.  This quiz is worth 30 points and can only be taken once.  

 

• After you have completed Module One Quiz, please return to this website and start Module Two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

 

Ari, C. (2008). Role of sensory cure on food searching behavior of a captive Manta birostris.  Zoo Biology 27, 294-304.

 

Crow, G. & Crites, J. (2002). Sharks and Rays of Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: Mutual Publishing.

 

Marshall, A.D., Simon, P.J., & Bennet, M.B. (2008). Morpholocial measurements of manta rays             (Manta birostris) with a description of a foetus from the east coast of Southern Africa.  Zootaxa 1717, 24 -30.

 

Michael, S. (1993). Reef Sharks & Rays of the World.  A Guide to their Identification, Behavior, and Ecology.  Monterey, CA: Sea Challengers.

 

Tomita, T., Toda, M., Ueda, K. Uchida, S., Nakaya, K. (2012). Live-bearing manta ray: how the embryo acquires oxygen without placenta and umbilical cord.       Biology Letter 8. Doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0288.

 

The World of Copepods. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  http://invertebrates.si.edu/copepod/

 

 

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