{{Short description|Species of cartilaginous fish}} {{Speciesbox | name = Lesser devil ray | image = The Plagiostomia (Plate 38) (6001273001).jpg | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Marshall, A. |author2=Barreto, R. |author3=Carlson, J. |author4=Fernando, D. |author5=Fordham, S. |author6=Francis, M.P. |author7=Herman, K. |author8=Jabado, R.W. |author9=Liu, K.M. |author10=Rigby, C.L. |author11=Romanov, E. |date=2019 |title=''Mobula hypostoma'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T126710128A896599 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T126710128A896599.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A2 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref> | taxon = Mobula hypostoma | authority = (Bancroft, 1831) | range_map = Mobula hypostoma répartition.png | range_map_caption = Range of ''Mobula hypostoma'', not including ''M. rochebrunei'' | synonyms = * ''Cephalopterus hypostomus''<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021" /> * ''Cephaloptera massenoidea''<ref name= Boonstra>{{cite web | last = Boonstra | first = Roxane | title = Atlantic devil ray | publisher = Florida Museum of Natural History | url = http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/AtlanticDevilRay/AtlanticDevilRay.html | access-date = 8 December 2011 }}</ref> * ''Cephaloptera olfersii'' * ''Ceratobatis robertsi'' * ''Ceratobatic robertsii'' * ''Mobula olfersii'' * ''Mobula reobertsi'' * ''Mobula rochebrunei''? }}
The '''lesser devil ray''' ('''''Mobula hypostoma''''') is a species of devil ray in the family Mobulidae.
== Habitat == These rays live in shallow, warm waters and can be found in shoals of up to 40 individuals, although more often ranging between 2 and 10.<ref name="manta trust"/>
They occur along the coasts of the western Atlantic, from North Carolina to northern Argentina.<ref name="florida">{{cite web|url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/discover-fish/species-profiles/mobula-hypostoma/|website=Florida Museum|title=Mobula hypostoma}}</ref> The related ''Mobula rochebrunei'' has occasionally been recovered as a junior synonym of ''M. hypostoma'', extending the species' range to the eastern Atlantic.<ref name="whitte">White, W.T., Corrigan, S., Yang, S., Henderson, A.C., Bazinet, A.L., Swofford, D.L. and Naylor, G.J.P. 2017. Phylogeny of the manta and devilrays (Chondrichthyes, mobulidae) with an updated taxonomic arrangement for the family. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 182(1): 50-75. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx018.</ref>
== Diet == They mostly feed on zooplankton such as small crustaceans, although they can occasionally eat schooling fish, using their cephalic horns to funnel prey into their mouth.<ref name="florida"/>
== Description == Lesser devil rays are relatively small, with a maximum width of about {{convert|125|cm|abbr=on}}. They have forward-facing cephalic horns, while their long spineless tails distinguish them from their relatives ''M. mobular''.<ref name="manta trust">{{cite web|url=https://www.mantatrust.org/mobula-hypostoma|title=West Atlantic Pygmy Devil Ray (Mobula hypostoma)|website=Manta Trust}}</ref><ref name="florida"/>
Dorsal coloration varies from light brown to black, although some specimens have been reported as blue.<ref name="florida"/> Individuals sometimes possess a dark grey collar between their spiracles.<ref name="manta trust"/>
== References == {{Reflist}} * {{ITIS |id=160997 |taxon=Mobula hypostoma |accessdate=18 April 2006}} * {{FishBase | genus = Mobula | species = hypostoma | month = February | year = 2006}} * {{cite book | author = C. R. Robins | author2 = G. C. Ray | name-list-style=amp | year = 1986 | title = A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America | url = https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetoatla00robi | url-access = registration | location= Boston | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company}}
==External links== * {{SealifePhotos|158530}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q4548397}}
lesser devil ray Category:Fish of the Western Atlantic Category:Fish of the Dominican Republic Category:Vulnerable fish lesser devil ray