Mobula hypostoma
Devil Ray
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Chondrichthyes (Cartilaginous Fishes)
Myliobatiformes (Stingrays)
Myliobatidae (Eagle Rays)
Mobula
Mobula hypostoma (Devil Ray)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Lozenge-shaped disc; relatively narrow head bordered by moderate-sized cephalic fins; very slender, relatively long, whiplike tail; distance from tip of cephalic fin to spiracle more than 13.4% of disc width (DW); nasal curtain rectangular with smooth posterior margin; mouth subterminal and slightly arched; teeth present in both jaws, occupying less than 55% of upper jaw and less than 52% of lower jaw; 36 to 72 and 38 to 58 tooth rows in upper and lower jaws respectively; branchial filter plates not fused with acorn-shaped terminal lobes; dorsal fin base slightly less than one-half mouth width; tail lacks serrated spines; body covered with denticles except for tail posterior to dorsal fin.
Blackish brown dorsally and yellowish or grayish white ventrally.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to Mar del Plata, Argentina, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles.
Habitat Associations
Near the surface over continental and insular shelves.
Biology
Small pelagic crustaceans and fishes.
Maximum known size is 120 cm DW.
Pregnant female with a single embryo; males mature at 114 cm DW, females mature at 111 cm DW, and young are 55 cm DW at birth.
Occurs in shallow coastal waters (Ref. 12951). Feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans but may take small schooling fishes (Ref. 12951). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 50449). Found singly, in small groups, and in schools (Ref. 12951). Swimming at high speed and often leap high above the surface (Ref. 6902). Feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans, but also on small schooling fishes (Ref. 114953). Meat used for food and a source of oil (Ref. 6902).
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN), assessed 2018-11-08. Resilience: Very low (Fec=1).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953a
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Notabartolo-di-Sciara 1987a
Notabartolo-di-Sciara 1987b
Notabartolo-di-Sciara and Hillyer 1989
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Bigelow, H.B. and W.C. Schroeder (1953) Sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates and rays. p. 1-514. In J. Tee-Van et al. (eds.) Fishes of the western North Atlantic. Part two. New Haven, Sears Found. Mar. Res., Yale Univ.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Michael, S.W. (1993) Reef sharks and rays of the world. A guide to their identification, behavior, and ecology. Sea Challengers, Monterey, California. 107 p.
Weigmann, S. (2016) Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity. J. Fish Biol. 88(1):1-201. DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12874
White, W.T., S. Corrigan, L. Yang, A.C. Henderson, A.L. Bazinet, D.L. Swofford and G.J.P. Naylor (2018) Phylogeny of the manta and devilrays (Chondrichthyes: Mobulidae), with an updated taxonomic arrangement for the family. Zool. J. of the Linn. Soc., 20:1-26; figs.
González‐González, L.d.V. and N.R. Ehemann (2018) Length-weight relationships of six elasmobranch species captured at the artisanal fishery of Margarita Island, Venezuela. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 35:594-596. DOI: 10.1111/jai.13832
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