Stats

Lifespan: Up to 40 yrs
Size: Huge
Diet: Filter Feeder
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Coral reef
Range: Tropical Indo-Pacific
Movement: Swimming
Breeding: Live Birth
Defense: Speed
Status: Vulnerable

About

A wide, gliding cartilaginous fish of tropical reefs, with a wingspan that can stretch over four meters. It feeds by funneling plankton into its mouth using two paddle-like cephalic fins that unfurl as it swims.

Life cycle

1.
newborn pup
A pup is born free-swimming, a miniature of the adult, and begins feeding immediately.
2.
juvenile
A juvenile glides along the bottom, feeding on small invertebrates and growing its disc.
3.
subadult
A near-adult ray reaches close to mature size and ranges into deeper water.
4.
adult
Fully grown.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Myliobatiformes
Family: Mobulidae
Genus: Mobula
Species: Mobula alfredi