Mobula munkiana: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the mobula munkiana lives – recorded in 2 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Mobula munkiana
Group	Rays, skates & chimaeras
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	2 countries
Continents	North America
Class	Cartilaginous fish
Order	Myliobatiformes
Family	Myliobatidae

Where does the mobula munkiana live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the mobula munkiana in 2 countries and territories across North America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the mobula munkiana endangered?

The mobula munkiana’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the mobula munkiana?

The mobula munkiana (Mobula munkiana) is a cartilaginous fish in the order Myliobatiformes and the family Myliobatidae, genus Mobula. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the mobula munkiana

Mobula munkiana, commonly known as the manta de monk, Munk's devil ray, pygmy devil ray, smoothtail mobula, or Munk's pygmy devil ray, is a species of ray in the family Mobulidae. They are commonly mistaken for their close relatives, M. thurstoni (bentfin devil ray) and M. mobular (giant devil ray). Although they are the smallest of the species in genus Mobula, they make up for their size with their incredible speed and agility. These characteristics are a likely explanation for their lack of natural predators, although they have been known to be hunted by orcas and are often fished by humans. One of the defining characteristics of this group are their acrobatic performances that are conducted while jumping in the air in schools of thousands. It is thought that these spectacles are a functional part of their lifestyle, including kickstarting mating rituals. The species was first described in 1987 after the Italian ecologist Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara observed one of these acrobatic spectacles and decided to name them after his scientific mentor, Walter Munk.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Mobula munkiana (revision 1376398619), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q3281136 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).