The largest ray in the world, up to 7 m from wingtip to wingtip. Off Cabo it’s a rare, lucky sighting; its stronghold is the Revillagigedo Islands, 386 km southwest, where researchers have identified more than 1,300 individuals.
Black on top with two sharp-edged white shoulder patches shaped like mirror-image right triangles, leaving a black “T” between them. The mouth sits at the very front of the head, not underneath, and its inside and the head fins are usually black. The belly is white with dark shading along the back edge of the wings; spots, if any, cluster on the lower belly, rarely between the gill slits. Some are all black.
Giant mantas live in tropical and temperate seas worldwide, along coasts with upwelling, around oceanic islands and over seamounts, from the surface down to about 1,000 m. They filter large amounts of zooplankton, such as krill, copepods, mysids and shrimp larvae, and come into shallow water to visit cleaning stations, where small fish pick off their parasites.
They live slowly. Females mature at around 8 to 9 years, and have a single pup 1.2 to 2 m wide after a pregnancy of about a year, only every few years. The IUCN estimates an average female has just 4 to 7 pups in her life. Where they’re fished for meat or for their gill plates, sold in Asian markets, sightings have fallen 71 to 95% in less than a generation.
Mantas have the largest brain of any fish. Shown a mirror, two giant mantas in an aquarium didn’t treat their reflection as another ray: they repeated unusual movements and blew bubbles while watching it, behaviors linked to self-awareness. Scientists still debate what it means.
Source ↗Researchers have identified more than 1,300 giant mantas at Revillagigedo by their belly spots, with records back to 1978; some individuals have been resighted 29 years apart.
Source ↗Over 9 years, researchers identified 53 young mantas, all immature, at La Reina in the southwestern Gulf of California, between July and November. Tagged ones stayed up to 55 days in a row: a likely nursery for the species.
Source ↗Tagged and photo-identified mantas move between Revillagigedo, the Gulf of California and the mainland coast, up to about 560 km; two traveled from Isla Cerralvo to Revillagigedo.
Source ↗Tags at Revillagigedo showed mantas gradually shifting from the surface to 100–150 m, following zooplankton, and a submersible filmed one feeding at depth. NOAA notes they can dive beyond 1,000 m.
Source ↗With one pup at a time and a generation length of about 29 years, the giant manta has one of the slowest population growth rates of any shark or ray, so losses take decades to recover.
Source ↗Off Los Cabos, according to local crews, a giant manta is an occasional, lucky sighting on offshore trips rather than something to plan around. Look for a huge dark diamond cruising just under the surface, or wingtips breaking the water. The famous encounters are at the Revillagigedo Islands, 386 km southwest of Cabo, where fishing is banned and visits are by liveaboard dive boat.
Watch without chasing it or driving over it. If one is foul-hooked or tangled in line, keep it in the water, never gaff it or lift it by the head fins, gills or mouth, and use the leader to hold it alongside. Cut the line as close to the hook as you can, leaving less than 1 m, and keep any cut line or net on board. Mexican law requires releasing it.
| Capture (NOM-029) | Catching or keeping giant mantas is banned, alive or dead, whole or in parts; any caught by accident must be returned to the water |
|---|---|
| Mexico (NOM-059) | Subject to special protection (Pr) |
| Revillagigedo National Park (2017) | All fishing banned across about 14.8 million hectares |
| IUCN Red List | Endangered (2020 assessment, amended 2022) |
| CITES | Appendix I since 2026 (Appendix II 2014–2026) |
| CMS (Bonn Convention) | Appendices I and II since 2011 |
| United States (ESA) | Threatened since 2018 |
Munk’s devil ray reaches only about 1.1 m across, travels in big leaping schools and, like all devil rays, has its mouth underneath the head instead of at the front. The spinetail devil ray grows to about 5 m but has a black crescent across the shoulders, a white-tipped dorsal fin and a mouth under the head. The reef manta has a fuzzier, V- or Y-shaped shoulder pattern and often spots between the gill slits.
Occasionally, on offshore trips, according to local crews. The reliable place is the Revillagigedo Islands, 386 km southwest of Cabo.
No. They feed on plankton and have no working stinger, only a small knob at the base of the tail.
No. Mexican law bans catching or keeping them, and any caught by accident must be released.
Top illustration: Top Anglers. Photos: iNaturalist contributors, credited on each photo.
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