{{Short description|Genus of cartilaginous fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|34|0}} Early Oligocene to present<ref>{{cite journal| last =Sepkoski| first =Jack| title =A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)| journal =Bulletins of American Paleontology| volume =364| page =560| year =2002| url =http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=575&rank=class| accessdate =9 January 2008 | url-status=dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120510170834/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=575&rank=class| archive-date =10 May 2012}}</ref> | status = CITES_A2 | status_system = CITES | status_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date= 14 January 2022|website=CITES}}</ref> | image = Mobula breaching.jpg | image_caption = ''Mobula'' sp. breaching, Baja California | image_upright = 1.1 | taxon = Mobula | authority = Rafinesque, 1810 | type_species = ''Raja mobular'' | type_species_authority = Bonnaterre, 1788 }}
'''''Mobula''''' is a genus of rays in the family Mobulidae that is found worldwide in tropical and warm, temperate seas.<ref name=White2017>{{cite journal | last=White |last2=Corrigan |last3=Yang |last4=Henderson |last5=Bazinet |last6=Swofford |last7=Naylor | year=2017 | title=Phylogeny of the manta and devilrays (Chondrichthyes: mobulidae), with an updated taxonomic arrangement for the family | journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=182 | pages=50–75 | doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx018 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Some authorities consider this to be a subfamily of the Myliobatidae (eagle rays).<ref>{{cite book| author=Nelson, J.S. | year=2006 | title=Fishes of the World | edition=4| publisher=John Wiley & Sons| title-link=Fishes of the World }}</ref><ref name=fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Mobula| month = July | year = 2017}}</ref> Species of this genus are often collectively referred to as "'''devil rays'''", "'''flying mobula'''", or simply "'''flying rays'''", due to their propensity for breaching, sometimes in a spectacular manner. These rays gather in groups and leap out of the surface into the air up to around {{cvt|2|m|abbr=on}} before splashing back into the water.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-spectacular-display-of-the-mobula-ray.html |title=The spectacular display of the mobula ray |last1=Pavid |first1=Katie |date=n.d. |website=Natural History Museum |publisher=The Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London |access-date=25 September 2022 }}</ref>
The genus includes the giant manta rays (traditionally in their own genus ''Manta''), ''M. alfredi'', ''M. birostris'', and ''M. yarae'', which are the largest rays.<ref name=White2017/><ref name="Bucair2025" />
{{ external media | float = right | width = 254px | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31n7m7DGSn0 Mobula rays "vortex feeding"] }}
== Description == Depending on the species, the devil rays can attain widths up to {{convert|1.1-5.2|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the largest being second only to the manta rays in size, which can reach {{convert|5.5-7.0|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name=White2017/> Despite their size, little is known about the devil rays, much of it anecdotal; the manta rays are better known.
Most species entirely lack a tail stinger. In most species having a stinger, it is encased, rendering it harmless; only ''M. mobular'' has a "free" stinger.<ref name=White2017/>
== Taxonomy == The genus was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1810 describing the devil fish, ''Raia mobular'' or now ''Mobula mobular''. The name can be explained from Latin ''mobilis'' "mobile" or "movable", because of the species' migratory habits;<ref name="ETYFish">{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/ETYFish_Mobulidae.pdf |title=Family MOBULIDAE |date=22 July 2022 |last1=Scharpf |first1=Christopher |website=The ETYFish Project |access-date=25 September 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dmobilis |title= mōbĭlis |last1= Lewis |first1= Charlton T. |last2= Short |first2= Charles |dictionary= A Latin Dictionary |edition= |publisher= Perseus Digital Library |date = 1879 }}</ref> another explanation is that ''mobula'' is a local name used by people living in Azores, who call this creature there.<ref name="ETYFish"/>
Based on genetics, and to a lesser degree, morphological evidence, the genus was redefined in 2017. Under this arrangement, ''Manta'' is included in ''Mobula''.<ref name=White2017/>
=== Species === FishBase recognizes 11 species:<ref name=fishbase/> * ''Mobula alfredi'' <small>(J. L. G. Krefft, 1868)</small> (reef manta ray) * ''Mobula birostris'' <small>(Walbaum, 1792)</small> (giant oceanic manta ray) * ''Mobula eregoodootenkee'' <small>Bleeker, 1859</small> (pygmy devil ray) * ''Mobula hypostoma'' <small>Bancroft, 1831</small> (lesser devil ray) * ''Mobula japanica'' <small>J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841</small> (spinetail mobula) * ''Mobula kuhlii'' <small>J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841</small> (shortfin devil ray) * ''Mobula mobular'' <small>Bonnaterre, 1788</small> (devil fish) * ''Mobula munkiana'' <small>Notarbartolo di Sciara, 1987</small> (Munk's devil ray) * ''Mobula rochebrunei'' <small>Vaillant, 1879</small> (lesser Guinean devil ray) * ''Mobula tarapacana'' <small>Philippi {Krumweide}, 1892</small> (Chilean devil ray) * ''Mobula thurstoni'' <small>Lloyd, 1908</small> (bentfin devil ray) * ''Mobula yarae'' <small>Bucair & Marshall, 2025</small> (Atlantic manta ray)<ref name="Bucair2025">{{Cite journal |last1=Bucair |first1=Nayara |last2=Hinojosa-Alvarez |first2=Silvia |last3=Marshall |first3=Andrea Denise |last4=Pate |first4=Jessica |last5=Francini |first5=Carlo Leopoldo Bezerra |last6=Garrido |first6=Amana Guedes |last7=Capel |first7=Katia Cristina Cruz |last8=Loboda |first8=Thiago Silva |last9=Monteiro |first9=Jhonatas Sirino |last10=Bruno |first10=Carlos Eduardo Malavasi |last11=Vaga |first11=Claudia Francesca |last12=Dove |first12=Alistair D. M. |last13=Hoopes |first13=Lisa A. |last14=Perry |first14=Cameron |last15=Kitahara |first15=Marcelo V. |date=2025-07-23 |title=An integrative taxonomy investigation unravels a cryptic species of ''Mobula'' Rafinesque, 1810 (Mobulidae, Myliobatiformes), from the Atlantic Ocean |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10641-025-01727-2 |issn=0378-1909}}</ref>
Extinct species by ''Shark-References'':<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shark-references.com/species/listValidFossil/M |title=Extinct - valid species |website=Shark-References |access-date=29 April 2019 }}</ref>
* ''M. cappettae'' <small>Jonet, 1976</small> * ''M. lorenzolizanoi'' <small>Laurito Mora, 1999</small> * ''M. loupianensis'' <small>Cappetta, 1970</small> * ''M. melanyae'' <small>(CASE, 1980)</small> * ''M. pectinata'' <small>Cappetta, 1970</small>
==See also== * List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *[https://archive.today/20130414083753/http://www.arkive.org/explore/species?q=mobula Videos and information about several Mobula species] — ARKive.org
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Category:Mobula Category:Extant Rupelian first appearances Category:Batomorphi genera Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Category:Rupelian genus first appearances