Who is the sea devil. Stingray sea devil

(Manta birostris) is the largest stingray and belongs to the class Cartilaginous fishes, subclass Elastogranial, superorder Batoidea or Stingrays, order Dasyatiformes or Tail-shaped.

In length it can reach 2 m with a wingspan of up to 7 m, its weight reaches two tons. The isolated front parts of the pectoral fins are shaped like horns, which is why the manta is also called the sea devil. The mouth of these rays is very wide and is located at the front edge of the head. Like other stingrays, mantas have a peculiar filtering apparatus, consisting of gill plates, on which food is filtered - planktonic crustaceans, small fish. Mantas travel great distances in search of food, constantly following the movement of plankton. The animal is warm-blooded.
Mantas move perfectly in the water, waving their “wings” with ease and grace. Sometimes they are seen lying on the surface of the water. In this case, one of the pectoral fins is bent so that its edge sticks out.

The ability of sea devils to jump out of the water is well known. At the same time, they can rise 1.5 m above its surface. The sound of a large specimen falling onto the water is heard like thunder and can be heard for several miles.
Manta is completely safe for humans, because it is not aggressive. However, touching her skin, covered with small spikes, is fraught with bruises and abrasions. It feeds on plankton, crustaceans and small fish. The back is black, the belly is bright white.

Giant manta rays are found in the tropical waters of all oceans. They live in the water column and are sometimes found even in the open ocean.
Manta rays have teeth only in the lower jaw, each of which is the size of a pinhead. The tip of each tooth has a blunt surface with three weak grooves. These teeth are often indistinguishable from the teeth in the mouth and are not involved in the absorption of food. They can play a sanitary role and are important during the courtship period.

Like sharks and other rays, manta rays are fertilized internally. The male Manta has a pair of penis-like organs (claspers) that develop from the inside of their pelvic limbs (like limbs, of course). Each clasper has a recess through which sperm enters the female's body, where fertilization occurs. During courtship, several Mantas may try to achieve the love of a female for quite some time. But ultimately, the most successful Manta grabs the top of her mouth wings with his teeth (which we've already written about) and pushes her in the stomach. And somehow it turns out that at this very moment one of his claspers penetrates the cloaca. Copulation lasts 90 seconds. The female manta brings a single, but very solid cub, about 125 cm wide and weighing 10 kg. When born, it emerges from the mother's womb tail first, rolled into a cylinder and immediately unfolds, starting to wave its pectoral fins.

Manta with yellow fish. Scientists have determined that the manta ray may be one of the most intelligent creatures in the ocean. (Andrea Marshall)

Juvenile manta ray feeding: with a fin span of up to 7.5 meters, manta rays are the largest of the diamond-shaped rays. (Guy Stevens)

Manta ray view from below. Usually females of this species give birth to one cub. Pregnancy lasts 12 months. (Andrea Marshall)

The results of the study showed that one of the giant stingrays named Magellan swam 1,126 km in 60 days. (Andrea Marshall)

Several manta rays feed together in the Landaa Lagoon in the Maldives. (Guy Stevens)

More than a hundred manta rays gather in the Maldives to find food. (Andrea Marshall)

The stingrays are collected during the monsoon season. (Andrea Marshall)

The process of shooting a film about manta rays. (Andrea Marshall)

Giant stingray with divers. With a fin span of up to 7.5 meters, the giant manta ray is much larger than the reef rays. (Andrea Marshall)

The abundance of plankton in the coastal waters of Sharm El Sheikh attracts large manta rays and every diver can try their luck. Videographers of Camel Dive Club managed to film several manta rays and we are happy to offer you this sketch.

The manta ray is a sea giant, the largest among the known stingrays, and perhaps the most harmless. Due to its size and formidable appearance, many legends have been composed about it, which are mostly fiction.

The dimensions of the manta are very impressive, adults reach 2 meters, 8 meters is the span of the fins, the weight of the fish is up to two tons. But not only the large size gives the fish a formidable look, the head fins, in the process of evolution, stretched out and resemble horns. Perhaps that is why they are also called "sea devils", although the purpose of the "horns" is more peaceful, stingrays use their fins to direct plankton into their mouths. The mouth of a manta reaches one meter in diameter.. Having decided to eat, the stingray swims with its mouth wide open, with its fins it drives water with small fish and plankton into it. In the mouth, the stingray has a filtering apparatus, the same as that of the whale shark. Through it, water and plankton are filtered, food is sent to the stomach, the skate releases water through the gill slits.

The habitat of manta rays is the tropical waters of all oceans. The back of the fish is painted black, and the belly is snow-white, with an individual number of spots for each individual, thanks to this color it is well camouflaged in the water.

In November, they have mating time, and divers observe a very curious picture. The female swims surrounded by a whole string of "admirers", sometimes their number reaches twelve. Males swim after the female at high speed, repeating her every movement.

The female bears a cub for 12 months, and gives birth to only one. After that, he takes a break for one or two years. What explains these breaks is unknown, perhaps this time is needed to restore strength. The process of childbirth proceeds in an unusual way, the female quickly releases the cub rolled up into a roll, then it unfolds its fins-wings and swims after the mother. Newborn manta rays weigh up to 10 kilograms and are one meter long.

The brain of the manta is large, the ratio of the weight of the brain to the total body weight is much larger than that of other fish. They are smart and very curious, easily tamed. On the islands of the Indian Ocean, divers from all over the world gather to swim in the company of the manta ray. Often they show their curiosity at the sight of an unknown object on the surface, emerge, drift nearby, observe the events taking place.

In natural nature, the sea devil has almost no enemies, with the exception of carnivorous sharks, and even they attack almost only young animals. In addition to their large size, the sea devil has no protection from enemies; the stinging spike characteristic of electric stingrays is either absent or present in a residual state and does not pose any threat to anyone.

Giant stingray meat is nutritious and tasty, liver is a special delicacy. In addition, meat is used in Chinese traditional medicine. Hunting them is beneficial to poor local fishermen, although it is associated with a considerable risk to life. The manta ray is considered a critically endangered species..

There was a belief that manta rays were able to attack a person in the water, wrap their fins around them, drag them to the bottom and swallow the victim. In Southeast Asia, a meeting with a sea devil was considered a bad sign and promised many misfortunes. Local fishermen, having accidentally caught a cub, immediately released it. Perhaps that is why the population with low reproduction has survived to this day.

In fact, a manta ray can only harm a person when it descends into the water after jumping out of the water. With its large body, it can hook a swimmer or a boat.

Jumping over water is another amazing feature of giant stingrays. The jump reaches a height of 1.5 meters above the surface of the water, and then, followed by a dive with the strongest noise caused by the body of a two-ton giant hitting the water. This noise can be heard at a distance of several kilometers. But, according to eyewitnesses, the spectacle is magnificent.

Giant stingrays are also beautiful under water, easily flapping their fins, like wings, as if they are floating in the water.

Only five of the largest aquariums in the world have sea devils. And there is even the case of the birth of a cub in captivity, in a Japanese aquarium in 2007. This news spread around all countries and was shown on television, which testifies to the love of man for these amazing creatures.

There are different legends about animals. Some are related to their habits, others to their appearance. So the manta ray is no exception.

The name of this animal, by the way, came about thanks to an old legend. The scientific name of the stingray is Manta birostris. And the word Manta means nothing else, but a blanket (cover).

Looking at the gigantic size and appearance of the animal, people thought that it wraps a person in its “blanket” and takes it to the bottom of the sea ... a terrible story. Only now, science has long proven that this legend is nothing more than a fiction, and in vain they blamed the stingray for all mortal sins, because it is not dangerous for a person.

Well, if the “veil” is more or less clear, then nothing is clear with the name “devil”. The poor animal did not deserve such name-calling, at least not from people. Well, just think - the front (pectoral) fins were transformed into rounded outgrowths ... no - give us all mysticism, people - it suddenly seemed that these outgrowths looked like the horns of the devil. So the unenviable name “giant” stuck to the fish.

What you can’t argue with is the “giant”. The stingray really reaches a huge size: the body length is about two meters, and the fins in the open state are as much as 8 meters!

But the huge size of these fish does not yet mean that they hunt big. Their main food is small fish and plankton. That's just how such meager dinners manta manages to "eat up" a mass of two tons - a real mystery!

In general, the process of eating food in this stingray is very peculiar. The fish opens its huge mouth wide, which in its open state can reach a meter in diameter, and with its "devil horns" rakes in food. Further (in the oral cavity), through the “built-in” filtering apparatus, the stingray picks up a mouthful of organisms floating in the water that make up its diet.

Manta rays live in tropical oceans. You can meet them, based on the "menu" of their diet, in the upper layers of the water, which is simply teeming with plankton. Well, so that the stingray was not too noticeable in the water, nature awarded it with a special color: light from below and black from above. With the help of such camouflage, the manta ray can not only swim unnoticed to food, but also hide from enemies.

Sharks are enemies of young manta rays.

Speaking of the natural enemies of the sea devil: adults should not especially worry about their immunity, but sharks are not averse to hunting for young sea stingrays.

Manta rays have a unique feature that makes them related to sharks: they can periodically jump out of the water, to a height of about one and a half meters above the surface. Just imagine what kind of splashes occur when this "carcass" flops back into the water! Such "somersaults" are heard for a long distance!

Swimming manta rays is a mesmerizing sight.

Manta rays are viviparous fish. They carry their offspring for exactly a year, after which, with the onset of childbirth, the cubs literally fly out of the body of the female. At the same time, the kids are rolled into a roll, and such a roll weighs 10 kilograms! The newborn "dummy" instantly unwinds and is immediately ready to follow mommy.

One of the largest and most legendary creatures of the underwater kingdom is the "sea devil" fish. In size, it is inferior to some whales, but not a single larger representative of this superclass of aquatic vertebrates has been found in the depths of the seas and oceans. And already the championship in myths and superstitions, debunked only recently, it has been holding for many centuries.

The discovery of the "sea devil"

For the first time, Johann Wahlbaum, a German zoologist, doctor and naturalist, described and named this animal. He called it Raja birostris; and it happened, by historical standards, not so long ago - in 1792. It should be noted that the history of these is the most confusing and vague, compared with other living creatures: in two centuries they were given 25 specific “names” and a dozen generic ones. Modern science recognizes the name Manta birostris. Until recently, it was believed that the "sea devil" fish is the only representative of giant manta rays. However, in 2009, another species, Manta alfredi, was identified, which has significant differences in appearance, development, and morphology, but is similar in size, nutrition, and lifestyle.

Legends and myths

The fish "sea devil" (photo above) got its nickname because of the peculiar shape of the head fins - with them it directs food into the mouth. From the side they look like horns; and given the considerable size of the individual, it is not surprising that she inspired fear in sea travelers. The Europeans, sailing in tropical waters, believed that if they angered the devil fish, it would sink the ship, and would chase after it with unquenchable malice and perseverance. In southeast Asia, meeting a manta ray meant (and still means) imminent troubles and big troubles. There was an opinion that a huge flat body serves as a mante to envelop the unfortunate prey in order to absorb it (according to another version - crushing if a person insulted the monster with something).

Fish "sea devil": description

The stingray has huge diamond-shaped pectoral fins - in large specimens, their span reaches seven meters. In front, they pass into the head fins, between which there is a wide mouth. The eyes are located on the sides, and the gills - in the form of slits - from the bottom of the head. The back of the sea devil is dark (black or thick gray), the belly is light. Moreover, a scattering of spots is obligatory on it. It is noteworthy that their number and location are strictly individual - like human fingerprints. As for weight, a large individual sometimes reaches two and a half tons ...

life in the ocean

No matter what they tell, no matter what terrible stories they invent, the “sea devil” fish eats like whales - plankton and small crustaceans. For this purpose, her mouth is equipped with a special apparatus for straining food, consisting of gill plates. Given the size of the manta, it is not surprising that she is forced to eat almost continuously.

The natural enemies of these creatures are killer whales and large sharks. They attack adults only if they are wounded and sick, but actively hunt for cubs.

Unlike most mantas, they are inhabitants of the upper water layers. They never go to great depths.

Manta breeding

To continue the race, giant stingrays sail to the shores of Mozambique. Their mating season is in November. At this time, dozens of representatives of the "sea devil" species can be observed there. The description of their courtship, provided by many ocean scientists and recreational divers, characterizes this process as a very beautiful sight. Males follow the female ready for conception in a whole string, and at high speeds, usually not characteristic of mantas. The female "sea devil" gives birth to only one offspring; cases of twins are very rare. In the initial stages after hatching, the cub remains inside the mother and feeds. After birth, the “sea devil” fish is a meter and a quarter long and weighs about ten kilograms. A newborn baby follows its mother everywhere. The female brings offspring irregularly - there are breaks in two and three years.

danger of extinction

As already mentioned, the "sea devil" fish has no serious natural enemies. But for her, a person is deadly. The meat and liver of this are considered a culinary delicacy, and among the Chinese they are also widely used in medicine. It is Chinese anglers who actively exterminate the devil fish, visiting the Mozambican coast in November. Considering how slowly the giant stingrays breed, and that this is the place they have chosen for mating, it can be argued that until the waters near Mozambique become protected, the threat of extermination of mantas will not disappear.

Riddles of the "sea devil"

Despite the fact that the sea devil fish is being actively studied, not all of its secrets have been revealed by scientists. First of all, no one can say why they get married near Mozambique and where they go after. Worker stingrays are essentially migrants and simply "travel" wherever they look.

No less a mystery is their habit of jumping out of the water and falling back with a fountain of spray. Various scientists have put forward several versions on this subject:

Which of the hypotheses is correct, perhaps, will become known in the future, of course, if humanity does not transfer this creature to the category of extinct.

These are real-life amazing marine inhabitants - monsters that cannot come even in nightmares.

1. A fish that looks like a predator

This fish boasts a huge toothy mouth, which, of course, only a predator can possess. The fish species Neoclinus blanchardi or, as it is also called, pike blennies, looks quite intimidating. Before this sea dweller opens his mouth, his appearance is not very different from that of ordinary fish, although he has strange wrinkled cheeks, like an old man. As soon as this “dog” opens its mouth, it turns into a frightening monster that is ready to swallow you whole.

The pike blenny is an incredibly territorial creature. Fish use their gigantic mouths when colliding with each other, although their fights are somewhat reminiscent of two parachutes colliding.

2. Sea flycatcher

It may seem that these creatures were taken from the bottom of the impact crater of some alien planet, but they live on Earth, more precisely, in deep-sea canyons near California. Carnivorous tunicates are similar to carnivorous flycatcher plants, but live in the depths of the sea. They anchor at the bottom and calmly wait for unsuspecting prey to swim next to their gaping luminous maw. As soon as the prey is near, the tunic immediately grabs it. Having learned to hunt in this way, these creatures cannot afford to be too choosy in their diet.

In addition to looking like extraterrestrial life forms, predator tunicates also have the ability to produce offspring without mating with other individuals, producing both eggs and sperm at the same time.

3. Fish that attacks from below

This living creature of the species Astroscopus guttatus with not the most attractive appearance was called the speckled stargazer. This name evokes associations with some small bright fish with large eyes, but this fish is not like that at all. Who else can count the stars? Obviously, this is the devil who sits on his throne somewhere in hell.
This fish spends most of its life burrowing into the silt at the bottom, looking down at everything that moves nearby. Moreover, she has special organs above her eyes that can emit electrical discharges.

4The Shark That Looks Like A Floor Mat

Looking at this creature, you can’t immediately make out whether it is a plant, or an animal, or even an inanimate object. This is actually a carpet shark, which got its name because of its similarity to a rug, although this rug has teeth and can bite painfully.

5. Remnetel or oar king - 7-meter fish

Remnetel or oarfish is the longest bony fish in the world. What is the length of this giant? For example, in 1996, in California, the US military caught a 7-meter belt body, pulling it out of the water was not an easy task. These giants are very rare, and most of those that can be found are already dead. Although in a dead state, such a monster is much better than in a living one. Apparently, it was this creature that became the prototype of the legends about the sea serpent - a terrible sea monster.

6. Squid - sea monster

You have probably heard that there are giant squids in the world, but it turned out that there are squids that are even larger than giant ones. In 2007, fishermen hauled on board the largest known squid ever caught. The length of this monster was 10 meters, and its weight was about half a ton!

Eyewitnesses said that the eyes were the size of a large plate, and if it occurred to someone to make squid rings from this creature, then each such ring would be the size of a tractor tire.
The people who caught the giant were forced to freeze it right on the ship, apparently after a fierce struggle. Since then, it has been on display at the New Zealand Museum.

7. The world's largest fish - Moonfish

Do you think that fish do not need to have legs in the water at all, since they are not going to wander along the bottom? You are wrong! Some fish have something like legs. Fish of the Brachionichthyidae family, which were recently discovered near the island of Tasmania, Australia, not only have four "limbs" in the place where they should have fins, but they know how to move them, wandering along the bottom. It looks very funny.

9. Fish that looks like an alien (black devil)

Fish from the genus Idiacanthidae are often referred to as black devil fish because of their appearance. They live in the depths of the sea, where sunlight does not reach. They have a special hunting strategy: their body emits infrared light that only they themselves can see, that is, these creatures have something like night vision goggles, when, like all other living beings, they are practically blind.

Interestingly, only the females of these fish have impressive teeth, and the males do not even have a well-functioning stomach. It has been suggested that males are needed only to give offspring, therefore, all other organs, except for the genitals, are of no use to them.

10. Guidak - a clam that looks like a penis

This creature is called guidac, whose name is borrowed from the Indians and means "deep digging." The body of the mollusk extends far beyond the shell and makes it look like a male organ. These mollusks are distinguished by the fact that they have an impressive life expectancy - 140 years or more, and can also grow to large sizes (up to 1.5 kilograms or more). This shellfish is quite popular in Japanese and Chinese cuisine, where it is often eaten raw.