Rays are sharks’ cousins, but unlike their relatives, they are flat, and live mostly on the seabed, in shallow, warm water. The manta ray is the monster on the family.
The Atlantic manta ray,
Manta birostris, is found in temperate oceans on the coast of Africa, in the Atlantic from North Carolina to Brazil, and on the Pacific coast from California to northern Peru.
Manta ray is also known as Devil ray, devil fish, Flying devil fish, Ox ray, Diamond fish, Eregoodoo, and Munguna. The largest recorded manta ray measured over twenty-seven feet (9.1) meters. Like sharks, these creatures have skeletons made form flexible cartilage instead of bone.
The manta’s body is almost flat, with large pectoral fins extending like wings on each side. It feeds like a basking shark, swimming with its mouth open so food-rich water flows through its gills.
Manta rays
