First photographic records of the giant manta ray Manta birostris off eastern Australia

Lydie I E Couturier; Fabrice R A Jaine; Tom Kashiwagi

doi:10.7717/peerj.742

First photographic records of the giant manta ray Manta birostris off eastern Australia

PeerJ. 2015 Jan 22:3:e742. doi: 10.7717/peerj.742. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Lydie I E Couturier¹, Fabrice R A Jaine², Tom Kashiwagi³

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland , St Lucia , Australia ; Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research , Dutton Park , Australia.
² Climate Adaptation Flagship, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research , Dutton Park , Australia ; Biophysical Oceanography Group, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Queensland , St Lucia , Australia ; Marine Megafauna Foundation, Manta Ray & Whale Shark Research Centre , Tofo Beach, Inhambane , Mozambique.
³ School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland , St Lucia , Australia ; Molecular Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Queensland , St Lucia , Australia.

Abstract

We present the first photographic evidence of the presence of the giant manta ray Manta birostris in east Australian waters. Two individuals were photographed off Montague Island in New South Wales and off the north east coast of Tasmania, during summer 2012 and 2014, respectively. These sightings confirm previous unverified reports on the species occurrence and extend the known distribution range of M. birostris to 40°S. We discuss these findings in the context of the species' migratory behaviour, the regional oceanography along the south east Australian coastline and local productivity events.

Keywords: Australia; Citizen science; Manta ray; Mobulidae.

Grants and funding

Manuscript preparation was partially supported by Project Manta, a research program based at the University of Queensland, funded and supported by Australian Research Council Linkage Projects Grant LP110100712, Earthwatch Institute Australia, Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort and Manta Lodge Scuba Centre. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.