Occurrence of mobulids in the Azores, central North Atlantic

Abstract

An updated checklist of manta and devil rays (family Mobulidae) occurring in waters of the Azores archipelago is given based on new data from underwater images and on the re-evaluation of previous citations for the region. There are, at least, three species of mobulids occurring in the region, possibly four: giant manta Manta birostris ; Chilean devil ray Mobula tarapacana ; and one or both of the giant devil ray Mobula mobular /spinetail devil ray Mobula japanica species complex. These findings have direct implications for the known ranges of all these species and for the conservation of their North Atlantic populations.