Manta Rays in the Nusa Islands!
Here in Nusa islands we are very lucky to have access to a resident population of Manta Rays with just under 700 individuals identified in the population. The manta rays in this area are the reef manta ray, Mobula alfredi. There have been a few oceanic manta rays, Mobula birostris seen in the area, although this is an extremely rare occurrence.
Nusa islands is one of the best places to see these majestic rays year round - particularly at the cleaning and feeding sites nearby.
So what are Manta Rays?
Reef mantas are large cartilaginous fish in the elasmobranch subclass. The common features for all elasmobranchs include their cartilaginous skeletons, the dermal denticles (teeth like scales which cover their bodies), and gills. Mantas diverged from other ray species approximately 5 million years ago.
Colour Morphs?
The most common colouring of Manta rays is referred to as a chevron pattern, these mantas are generally darker on the dorsal side(back) with a white belly. Mantas can also come in melanistic or leucistic forms. The melanistic colour morph occurs when the mantas have more melanin in their skin, and appear much darker in colouration. Almost 10% of our population here have this melanistic colour morph, one of the highest occurrences all over the world. Around here we call these darker mantas Ninja Mantas!
How many Mantas are around Penida?
There are almost 700 individuals here! How do we know this? Amazingly, it is possible to tell manta rays apart thanks to their spot patterns on their belly! Each individual has a unique identification pattern, comparable to that of human fingerprint. (Just like this one below)! Scientists from the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF) are able to study the population in this area using identification photos. Photos uploaded to the manta matcher website can be used by MMF to add to the database: https://mantamatcher.org/submit.jsp