e of destroying their boats. This isn’t hard to believe because of their enormous size, and their fins on the side of their head that look like horns (Reef Briefs).Despite their size and appearance they eat relatively small food. Some of the things that they feed on are plankton, small fish, and crustaceans. Since they are bottom dwellers their mouth and gills are located on the underside of the body (tripod.com). “The Manta ray utilizes its gills when it feeds by sucking water through its gills, allowing plankton to remain in its mouth, while water is pumped out. Then, via gill arches, the plankton is redirected to the ray’s stomach for digestion” (Reef Brief). The cephalic fins, or “horns” which people called them, are fins that extend forward from the eyes, which helps the manta guide large amounts of plankton into its mouth (cayman.org). The manta ray is sexually mature as soon as its pectoral fins reach a length of 13 to 15 feet. Unlike most fish, the female manta ray’s egg is fertilized inside of her body, so their young are born like a mammal’s young (McEachran). “Female ray’s give birth to one or two rays per litter, each weighing up to 25 pounds at birth!” (Reef Briefs). These rays, often called pups, learn to avoid predators by staying on the bottom, and by throwing sand on their body using their pectoral fins. The only predators that they really face are the killer whale and the shark (Reef Briefs). Because of this, the species is allowed to flourish, and are able to live in many places.Manta rays are known to be pelagic, which means that they like to live in the open ocean. Occasionally, they like to come close to the land to feed, or just to swim around. These rays, for some reason, like to spend a lot of time on the surface, or jumping completely out of the water. Some scientists’ think that the reason for this is to get rid of parasites that cling to ...
