There’s a third species of manta ray gracefully gliding through the seas, a recent study has confirmed. Researchers have named the newly described species, found in the western Atlantic, Mobula yarae after Yara, a water spirit from Indigenous Brazilian mythology.
For a long time, manta rays were considered a single species, Manta birostris. In 1868, Australian Museum director Gerard Krefft suggested a second species, Manta alfredi. However, it was only in a 2009 paper that Marine Megafauna Foundation co-founder Andrea Marshall and her colleagues confirmed M. alfredi, or the reef manta ray, as a valid species distinct from M. birostris, the giant oceanic manta ray. (More name changes: Manta rays were originally classified under the genus Manta, but were reclassified into the genus Mobula in 2017, which also includes the smaller devil rays).
In the same 2009 paper, the researchers predicted there was likely a third species of manta ray in the Atlantic.
The confirmation of Mobula yarae took several years of careful genetic and morphological analysis of manta rays from across the Atlantic. Researchers examined thousands of photos and videos of the species throughout its range, and analyzed dead specimens from Brazil, the U.S. and the Bahamas, and preserved specimens from scientific collections, said lead author Nayara Bucair from the University of São Paulo in Brazil.
“It was when we received the first genetic results that I realised and was certain that this was a different species,” Bucair told Mongabay by email. “Deep down, we’d all known it was a new species for years, but that day, I felt a sense of relief, certain that we could make progress.”
Visually, the newly described Atlantic manta ray looks a bit like both M. alfredi and M. birostris. But to the trained eye, it has distinctive V-shaped white shoulder patches and a lighter face. “It’s a classic case where genetic analysis was needed to confirm what careful morphological observation suggested,” co-author Jessica Pate, founder of the Florida Manta Project, said in a statement.
M. yarae has currently only been confirmed in the western Atlantic. This limited distribution puts it at a higher risk of extinction than its cousins. Its more coastal habits also make it “more vulnerable to the impacts of human activities and environmental degradation,” Bucair said. “Diseases and epidemics can have a severe impact on these populations.”
M. alfredi is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and M. birostris as endangered. However, since M. yarae was likely considered M. birostris all these years, both species will need reassessments to determine their true conservation status, Bucair said.
Formally describing M. yarae in the new study is the first step toward protecting it. However, studying such an elusive species in the vast ocean is challenging and requires collaborative efforts and better recognition of effort and leadership from the Global South, Bucair said.
Banner image: A Mobula yarae, or Atlantic manta ray. Image courtesy of Maitê Baratella/Barracuda Imagens.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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