Der Riesenmanta – Ein Teufelsrochen …
Der Riesenmanta (Mobula birostris, Syn.: Manta birostris) ist eine Rochenart aus der Familie der Teufelsrochen und ist mit einer Gesamtlänge von bis zu 8 Metern, einer Spannweite bis 7 Metern und einem Maximalgewicht von bis zu 2 Tonnen der größte Manta der Welt.
Charakteristisch für die Gattung sind die auffallenden, seitlich am Kopf sitzenden, nach vorn gerichteten flossenartigen Loben, die dazu dienen, Plankton in das große Maul zu leiten. Diese ‘Kopfflossen’ brachten den Tieren schließlich den Namen „Teufelsrochen“ ein.
Die Augen befinden sich an den Kopfseiten. Die Spritzlöcher sind annähernd rund bis schlitzförmig. Das Maul ist sehr breit, fast gerade und endständig oder leicht unterständig. Ober- und Unterkiefer oder der Unterkiefer allein sind mit zahlreichen kleinen, in Reihen angeordneten Zähnen besetzt.
Dancing Manta Rays …
are such beautiful creatures and it is such a great experience to join them. Although the flick “The Sea Bat” from 1930 tries to tell you something else. In the theatres 45 BJ (Before Jaws) it was the badass in the sea.In contrast to that giant killer in that movie, the primary food source for the Manta Ray is plankton, which are various organisms in the water, including bacteria, plants, and small animals.
[Plankton Bilder] We arrived at the meeting point and soon the differences between them and 3islands became clear painfully clear. the guids here seemded quite unexperienced and might have been on their work and travel here. the sea was quite rough and they did not keep an eye on everyone – so me and a ut and heavy guy who was offered a pool noodle(?) fell behind. I stood next to him just in case, couse if he had drowned nobody had noticed. about 800meters bevore we went into water we passed a reef with turtles and a bull shark. anyway.. at some point the heavy guy fell so much behind, we decided he will go aback to the boat. So I was alone there in the waves with white foam on them. the group about 150meters away. I started my swim to catch up and when I almost reached the group in the water heared the guide tell the others, there is a manta in the water. So I put my head unter water and looked for it. In the direction of the group: nothing. Left, right, behind me: nothing.. It was right below, doing its salti in place and I was in the perfect spot to watch it. It was so exciting to watch this graceful creature fly through the water. It was like peeking into another world: A Very windy day, raough sea and white foam on them, and under the surface was that show going on, the seafloor as white sand stage and the star of the show with a perfect and out of this world performance. (I won’t do that “breath taking” pun here again. To find out what that was about, read GreatWhiteSharks). This was my only encounter with a manta ray that day, but watching this great performance from a perfect spot couldn’t be bested anyway. So back on board and back to the shore. 😉