The geographic distribution of reef and oceanic manta rays ( Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris ) in Australian coastal waters

Armstrong, A.J., Armstrong, A.O., Bennett, M.B., McGregor, F., Abrantes, K.G., Barnett, A., Richardson, A.J., Townsend, K.A. and Dudgeon, C.L. (2020) The geographic distribution of reef and oceanic manta rays ( Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris ) in Australian coastal waters. Journal of Fish Biology . Early View.

Abstract

The known distribution of manta rays in Australian waters is patchy, with records primarily centred around tourism hotspots. We collated 11,614 records of Mobula alfredi from photo‐ID databases (n = 10,715), aerial surveys (n = 378) and online reports (n = 521). The study confirms an uninterrupted coastal distribution from north of 26°S and 31°S on the west and east coasts, respectively. More southerly M. alfredi records relate to warm‐water events with a southernmost extent at 34°S. Coastal sightings of Mobula birostris were rare (n = 32), likely reflecting a preference for offshore waters, but encompass a wider latitudinal extent than M. alfredi of 10–40°S.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Copyright:	© 2020 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/54710

Item Control Page