Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; pelagic-neritic. Tropical
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 133 cm WD male/unsexed; (Ref. 4442)
Eastern Atlantic: Mauritania (Ref. 5377) to Angola (Ref. 3166). Reported from Brazil (Ref. 53435).
Usually small, although it attains a maximum length of 200 cm. Lives in groups and swims either close to the bottom or at the surface. The cephalic horns serve as a funnel to bring food near the mouth. Its behavior is rather sluggish at the surface; however, they can swim rapidly and make impressive leaps out of the water. They are actually inoffensive when they are not disturbed or are not wounded. Feeds on small fish and plankton (Ref. 5377). Ovoviviparous (Ref. 4442).
McEachran, J.D. and B. Séret, 1990. Mobulidae. p. 73-76. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 1. (Ref. 4442)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5020 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (0.00244 - 0.04107), b=3.04 (2.81 - 3.27), based on all LWR estimates for this body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.9 ±0.64 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Fec assumed to be <100).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): High vulnerability (56 of 100) .