Mobula mobular (Bonnaterre, 1788)

Giant Devil Ray

Raia mobular Bonnaterre, 1788: 5. No types known. Type locality: Montredon, near Marseille, France, western Mediterranean Sea.

Local synonymy: Mobula japanica: Compagno, 1999: 118; Ebert & Dando, 2014: 103, fig.; Ebert & van Hees, 2015: 148; Weigmann, 2016: 982.

South Africa voucher material: SAIAB uncatalogued.

South African distribution: East of Port Alfred (EC) and the KZN coast.

Remarks: White et al. (2018) synonymized Mobula mobular (previously considered a Mediterranean Sea endemic) with M. japonica with precedence given to the name M. mobular. Records from off South Africa are not well documented.

Conservation status: EN (2020).