General Information

COMMON NAMES: Manta Ray; French Diable de Mer, Raie Manta TRADITIONAL NAMES: Tāmanu Vāvārua (MT AK), Hāhālua (TS), Hāhārua (TW), Fāfārua (MH), Wāwālua (PK); Other Polynesian - Fafa Piti (TAH) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE circumtropical, incl. Cooks COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Common only at TN, especially outside the passages, but also inside the lagoon. PLUS:; Marine, pelagic

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+		-	-	+	+

Northern Group: Present?
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++			P

Manta birostris (Walbaum, 1792)
SYNONYMS: Manta alfredi [Pacific entity]; Raja birostris [O]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; CHONDRICHTHYES; Rajiformes; Myliobatoidei; MOBULIDAE. COMMENT: Fomerly in a subfamily of MYLIOBATIDAE. Name sometimes attributed to Donndorff, 1798 because Walbaum failed to italicise species name

Vouchers:
Tongareva: residents report Mantas in lagoon (Sims88); Commonly seen at passage mouth (GMc85). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
plate 8a Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.31 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.48 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 4-07 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 5-07 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....
Species No. 22 Munro (1967) Fishes of New Guinea

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02

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