Very, very cool!
Back on March 13, I posted a picture of what looked like a baby manta ray on the PFIC Facebook Group Page. I didn’t really know what it was for sure or even if it was a true picture and not AI. I posted the following: “Anyone have information on this picture/fish? The picture was sent to me and I know the angler is Jose Plascencia (who I met and have talked to a couple of times at the Ocean Beach Pier). I thought I had Jose's phone number but I can’t find it. The fish appears to be a baby Manta Ray and the pier is, I think, the Imperial Beach Pier. I was excited to get the picture but as I look at it the hands holding the fish it just doesn't look right (though I could be wrong). Could it be AI?”
The responses to the picture convinced me it was not AI. One of the first responses, by Kato Farms, said “I checked the picture on wasital.com that said it was not AI.” I didn’t know the site but was glad to learn about it.
So what species? One response, by Eli Woohooe, seemed to indicate a species, “this is very likely a Mobula species instead of Manta. They commonly migrate in large schools in Baja and are easily accidentally snagged during those large congregations.”
I checked my ID books and replied, “Checking the books, only two Mobula species have been reported from California, the Manta Ray (Mobula birostris), taken as far north as Santa Barbara, and the Giant Devil Ray (Mobula mobular) that is rare but reported to central California.”
A third post, by Mark Allan Jansen, answered much of the question, “This picture was taken by me on the Imperial Beach Pier in 2015. It was caught by an older gentleman who promptly released it. I too thought it was a Manta Ray and looked it up but it’s a Devil Ray. Manta Rays have curved protrusions that funnel food into their mouths, while Devil Rays have these horns.”
In the meantime I had sent a note to Milton Love who is one of the preeminent fish biologists and the one I turn to with questions on fish. “Milton, I received this picture of a ray caught at the Imperial Beach Pier. Thought maybe it was an AI pic but apparently it is for real. I looked at your book and it appears to be a Giant Devil Ray, Mobula mobular, rather than a Manta, Mobula birostris. I know we really need a pic of both sides but based upon this pic would it be Mobula mobular?
He replied, “Hey Ken, Well it is in the manta family. I will send this to a guy who should know, and then get back to you.”
Today I received a response. “Hey Ken, Joe Bizzarro, one of the leading shark/skate/ray experts, thinks it was a species that is new to California, the Pygmy Devil Ray. It is a shame that we can’t have that specimen.” Milton Love, Love Lab and Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara.
From Joe Bizzarro, Institute of Marine Sciences, UC Santa Cruz. “This is exciting because there’s no ...... way it’s a baby manta. Size at birth is over a meter for all the mobulids in the eastern north Pacific except m. thurstoni and m. munkiana. Size at birth in thurstoni is like 70-75 cm. and it would have an umbilical scar, so that fish is not thurstoni. Max size of mukiana (disc width, of course) is 110 cm. so, that’s gotta be mukiana. It hasn’t been reported north of Todos Santos though - but there is no other option.”So, pretty exciting news, a fish new to California.
And, once again we don’t have a fish to give to the experts to study. This happened once before. I was fishing at the Cabrillo Mole in Avalon in December 2017 when a strange fish was caught that I couldn’t identify by my books. I took pictures and released it back into the water. I sent the pictures to Milton and after consultation with several different scientists they decided it was a Pacific Glasseye, a Pacific Islands species and again new to California. He asked if I had saved the fish and my answer was no – the same with this Pygmy Devil Ray. Me bad — scientists like to be able to study such new species.
Back on March 13, I posted a picture of what looked like a baby manta ray on the PFIC Facebook Group Page. I didn’t really know what it was for sure or even if it was a true picture and not AI. I posted the following: “Anyone have information on this picture/fish? The picture was sent to me and I know the angler is Jose Plascencia (who I met and have talked to a couple of times at the Ocean Beach Pier). I thought I had Jose's phone number but I can’t find it. The fish appears to be a baby Manta Ray and the pier is, I think, the Imperial Beach Pier. I was excited to get the picture but as I look at it the hands holding the fish it just doesn't look right (though I could be wrong). Could it be AI?”
Pygmy Devil Ray
The responses to the picture convinced me it was not AI. One of the first responses, by Kato Farms, said “I checked the picture on wasital.com that said it was not AI.” I didn’t know the site but was glad to learn about it.
So what species? One response, by Eli Woohooe, seemed to indicate a species, “this is very likely a Mobula species instead of Manta. They commonly migrate in large schools in Baja and are easily accidentally snagged during those large congregations.”
I checked my ID books and replied, “Checking the books, only two Mobula species have been reported from California, the Manta Ray (Mobula birostris), taken as far north as Santa Barbara, and the Giant Devil Ray (Mobula mobular) that is rare but reported to central California.”
A third post, by Mark Allan Jansen, answered much of the question, “This picture was taken by me on the Imperial Beach Pier in 2015. It was caught by an older gentleman who promptly released it. I too thought it was a Manta Ray and looked it up but it’s a Devil Ray. Manta Rays have curved protrusions that funnel food into their mouths, while Devil Rays have these horns.”
In the meantime I had sent a note to Milton Love who is one of the preeminent fish biologists and the one I turn to with questions on fish. “Milton, I received this picture of a ray caught at the Imperial Beach Pier. Thought maybe it was an AI pic but apparently it is for real. I looked at your book and it appears to be a Giant Devil Ray, Mobula mobular, rather than a Manta, Mobula birostris. I know we really need a pic of both sides but based upon this pic would it be Mobula mobular?
He replied, “Hey Ken, Well it is in the manta family. I will send this to a guy who should know, and then get back to you.”
Today I received a response. “Hey Ken, Joe Bizzarro, one of the leading shark/skate/ray experts, thinks it was a species that is new to California, the Pygmy Devil Ray. It is a shame that we can’t have that specimen.” Milton Love, Love Lab and Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara.
From Joe Bizzarro, Institute of Marine Sciences, UC Santa Cruz. “This is exciting because there’s no ...... way it’s a baby manta. Size at birth is over a meter for all the mobulids in the eastern north Pacific except m. thurstoni and m. munkiana. Size at birth in thurstoni is like 70-75 cm. and it would have an umbilical scar, so that fish is not thurstoni. Max size of mukiana (disc width, of course) is 110 cm. so, that’s gotta be mukiana. It hasn’t been reported north of Todos Santos though - but there is no other option.”So, pretty exciting news, a fish new to California.
Pacific Glasseye
And, once again we don’t have a fish to give to the experts to study. This happened once before. I was fishing at the Cabrillo Mole in Avalon in December 2017 when a strange fish was caught that I couldn’t identify by my books. I took pictures and released it back into the water. I sent the pictures to Milton and after consultation with several different scientists they decided it was a Pacific Glasseye, a Pacific Islands species and again new to California. He asked if I had saved the fish and my answer was no – the same with this Pygmy Devil Ray. Me bad — scientists like to be able to study such new species.