It’s 16 years since diver, marine biologist and manta professional Dr Andrea Marshall proposed the existence of a 3rd species of manta ray. Now that proposal has been formally vindicated, with a proper description in a brand new examine of the Atlantic manta, or Mobula yarae.
This recognition is being celebrated by the Marine Megafauna Basis (MMF), the physique co-founded by Marshall. Incomes the epithet “Queen of Mantas”, she had revolutionised manta ray science in 2009 by separating what had at all times been thought of as a single species, in order that the enormous oceanic manta (Mobula birostris) was recognised as distinct from the reef manta (Mobula alfredi).
That breakthrough had taken her six years of intensive examine primarily based on frequent dives, observations and images – however her analysis had additionally raised the potential of discovering a 3rd species.
Marshall initially encountered Mobula yarae within the Caribbean Sea, writing later that after finishing the primary examine it had been “one of many shocks of my life to leap into the nice and cozy waters off the Yucatan in Mexico a couple of yr later and are available head to head with what I immediately knew was a 3rd species of manta ray.”
Marshall moved on from Mexico to Brazil to collaborate with researcher Ana Paula Balboni Coelho’s Mantas do Brasil undertaking – and located the third manta there too.
The tropical and subtropical waters extending from the jap USA to Brazil and together with the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico are M yarae‘s favoured territory, and the scientific title is taken from Yara, a mythological Brazilian water spirit.
Marshall needed to wait eight years earlier than Jessica Pate, who based MMF’s Florida Manta Challenge, succeeded in figuring out a lifeless 2.4m juvenile feminine ray off Pompano Seaside as an Atlantic manta, offering the intact sort specimen required to formally describe the brand new species.
The complete story of how that ray was transported to the Smithsonian Establishment laboratories might be discovered on the MMF web site.
Marshall was nonetheless engaged on the undertaking in Mexico in early 2024 when she suffered a extreme mind aneurysm and stroke. She survived after weeks in a coma, however is now mentioned to dwell with life-changing impairments.
The worldwide analysis group continued to work on the examine, which has now been printed within the journal Environmental Biology of Fishes.
“Andrea’s 2009 taxonomic work on manta species flagged the doubtless existence of a 3rd Atlantic manta species primarily based on cautious area observations, and this formal description brings that work to completion,” says MMF government director and co-founder Dr Simon Pierce.
“It had been fairly stunning to everybody that there have been two species of manta ray and immediately I needed to argue that there have been three,” recalled Marshall in 2022. “To be sincere, I used to be undecided if anybody would consider me. However there was by no means a doubt in my thoughts.
“That confidence got here from the truth that it had taken me six years to distinguish the primary two species and I knew them inside out at this stage. This manta didn’t appear like both of them.”
The variations are delicate. From above, the black dorsal coloration and pectoral fin form of M yarae resemble these of a large oceanic manta, whereas from beneath the lighter face and spot patterns appear like these of a reef manta.
Key distinguishing options from above embrace V- somewhat than T-shaped white shoulder patches and lighter coloration across the mouth and eyes than seen on big mantas. From beneath, the ventral markings are darkish spots usually confined to the stomach somewhat than extending between the gills, as in reef mantas.
M yarae can develop to 5-6m, as do big mantas, however prefers the form of coastal waters inhabited by reef mantas. The genetic proof means that the species advanced comparatively just lately from the enormous manta.
“It’s uncommon to see a brand new species like this, and even rarer to look at the method behind it,” says Pate. This rarity make M yarae priceless for understanding how massive marine species adapt and evolve.
The priority now’s that its coastal inclination makes the species extra weak than its oceanic family members to inhabitants decline by fishing, boat-strikes or entanglement – however the formal recognition may show useful in that regard.
“Now that we’ve confirmed that this Atlantic manta ray is distinct, we will tailor our analysis and conservation initiatives to guard the species,” says Pate. All three manta species are categorized as Threatened on the IUCN Purple Record, and MMF plans to work with the international locations in M yarae’s vary to develop acceptable conservation measures.
Future analysis priorities embrace inhabitants evaluation, motion sample research utilizing satellite tv for pc telemetry, habitat use characterisation, and risk evaluation in key areas.
