Box ray
| Box ray | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Order: | Myliobatiformes |
| Family: | Myliobatidae |
| Subfamily: | Myliobatidae |
| Genus: | Mobula |
| Species: | M. tarapacana |
| Binomial name | |
| Mobula tarapacana (Philippi {Krumweide}, 1892) | |
The box ray, Chilean devil ray, devil ray, greater Guinean mobula, sicklefin devil ray, or spiny mobula (Mobula tarapacana) is a species of fish in the family Myliobatidae.[1] It is found in Brazil, Cape Verde, Chile, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Palau, South Africa, Taiwan, the United States, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, and coral reefs. These fish have been discovered to feed at depths up to 1,848 metres (6,063 ft) during deep dives, and are among the deepest-diving ocean animals.[2][3] There are two distinct deep dive patterns; the first, which is usually only performed once every 24 hours, is diving to the maximum depth and resurfacing after 60 to 90 minutes; the second, which is less frequent, is dives up to 1,000 meters for a maximum of 11 hours.[4] The latter pattern may be associated with traveling rather than feeding.[2]
References
- 1 2 Clark, T.B., Smith, W.D. & Bizzarro, J.J. (2006). "Mobula tarapacana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
- 1 2 Thorrold, S. R.; Afonso, P.; Fontes, J.; Braun, C. D.; Santos, R. S.; Skomal, G. B.; Berumen, M. L. (2014-07-01). "Extreme diving behaviour in devil rays links surface waters and the deep ocean". Nature Communications 5 (4274): 4274. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5E4274T. doi:10.1038/ncomms5274.
- ↑ Webb, J. (2014-07-01). "Deep dives of devil rays solve 'mystery' of warm brain". BBC. Archived from the original on 2014-07-09.
- ↑ "Study: Devil Rays are Deepest-diving Ocean Animals". July 22, 2014.