Manta+Rays

= **Manti birotris** =

// Yes I know. //  // I'm so fly. // The largest species of the rays in the family Myliobatidae. The largest known specimen of Manti birostris was more than 7.6 meters or 25 feet across and a weight of about 1300 kilograms or 2900 lb. They also have the largest brain to body ratio of the sharks, rays, and skates(Elasmobranchii); a brain which is kept warm even during lengthy dives to as deep as 1600 feet. Manta rays can be found in most tropical and temperate seas, including coral reefs. Manta rays are bottom-feeders and filter feeders feeding on plankton, fish larvae, and etc… that they strain from the water passing through their mouths and out of their gills as they swim. They catch their prey on gill rakers, flat plates of russet-colored spongy tissue spanning spaces between the manta's gill bars.

Manta rays also maintain a mutualistic relationship with small fish such as wrasse, remora, and angels fish at “cleaning stations” where they get into the proximity of the manta ray’s skin and gills to feed, which results in the cleaning of parasites and dead tissue. This results in the manta ray getting rid of it’s dead tissue and parasites which becomes a food source for these others.  //You can never be as cool as me unless you have your own personal living cleaning station! //

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