Mobula birostris ( Walbaum, 1792 )

Ebert, David A., Wintner, Sabine P. & Kyne, Peter M., 2021, An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of South Africa, Zootaxa 4947 (1), pp. 1-127 : 100

Mobula birostris ( Walbaum, 1792)

Giant Manta Ray

Raja birostris Walbaum, 1792: 535 . Types: No types known. Type locality: No locality stated in description.

Local synonymy: Manta ehrenbergi: Barnard, 1925: 87 ; Fowler, 1934b: 409, figs. 2–3; Barnard, 1959: 29, figs. 9–9a, pl. 4. Manta birostris: Smith, 1949a: 73 , fig. 88; Wallace, 1967c: 13, fig. 6; Compagno, 1986: 134, fig. 29.1, pl. 5; Compagno et al., 1989: 116, pl.; Compagno, 1999: 118; Heemstra & Heemstra, 2004: 88; Marshall et al., 2009: 4, figs. 1–7; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 99, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 148; Weigmann, 2016: 981. Mobula birostris: White & Last, 2016c: 743 , fig. 33.2; Stevens et al., 2018: 74, figs.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB 7885, SAIAB 48525, SAIAB 75575, SAIAB 75576, SAIAB 200672, SAIAB 200673, SAIAB 200674.

South African distribution: Table Bay (WC) to the KZN border with Mozambique.

Remarks: Mobula birostris appears to occur in the more temperate waters of the WC compared to M. alfredi , which appears to be more restricted to the warmer waters of the KZN coast.

Conservation status: EN (2020).