Devil Rays The Devil Ray
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Like whale sharks, these rays are filter feeders that primarily eat microscopic plankton and krill, with the occasional small fish. As devil rays swim, they take in water with the help of their cephalic fins. The water passes through the comb-like gill rakers (tiny projections on the gills), which filter out food while the water exits through the gills.
How long do devil rays live? A school of smoothtail mobulas © Houssine Kaddachi/Oceana Little is known about the life span of devil rays or at what age they can reproduce. Devil rays give birth to live pups that develop from an egg inside the mother. Only one pup is born per litter, and gestation periods may be over a year long. Threats Fishing is the main threat to devil rays around the world. Fisheries exist in several countries, mainly located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Devil rays are targeted by fishers because their parts are highly valued in international trade. Their cartilage is used as filler in shark fin soup, and some Chinese believe that devil ray gill rakers are believed to treat a variety of ailments including cancer. Because of their value, an estimated 94,000 mobula rays are caught each year, with Sri Lanka and India combined landing more than 79,000 individual rays. These numbers are a conservative estimate because catch levels are often underreported and there is a lack of fishing regulations. 
Devil rays are also incidentally caught in fisheries targeting other species. Gillnets, purse seines, longlines, and trawls can all catch mobula rays unintentionally. The low reproductive rate and schooling behavior of devil rays makes them especially vulnerable to overfishing. Other threats to devil rays include boat strikes, habitat loss, climate change, and pollution. A devil fish caught by a longline © Oceana Conservation The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists devil ray species as endangered, vulnerable, near threatened, or data deficient. Current populations are unknown for all species, and population trends are known for only two mobula rays. In Europe, the Bern Convention and the Barcelona Convention have listed the Devil Fish as a species requiring protection, yet only a few countries including Croatia and Malta have taken steps to protect this species. Other countries around the world including Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, and New Zealand have enacted policies to help protect devil rays, but they are not always enforced. No devil ray species are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) or the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
The following table shows the conservation status of all nine species, as well as the unknowns that need to be addressed to protect these rays. IUCN data for each Mobula species Sources Fish Base Florida Museum of Natural History IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Shark Savers Directory: sites -> default -> files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations files -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program files -> Occupational health and safety files -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program files -> International programs roel profile files -> Fermi Questions a guide for Teachers, Students, and Event Supervisors Lloyd Abrams, Ph. D. DuPont Company, cr&D/ccas experimental Station Wilmington, de 19880 files -> Personal Information Name: Maha Al-Ammari Nationality: Saudi Relationship Status Download 0.96 Mb. Share with your friends:
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