Oceanic manta
Mobula birostris
Seen from above: the white shoulder patches and the black T between them are the mark, and they do not show from the side. · Illustration: Bloom by Day
PROTECTED — look, don't shoot
The largest ray in the world: a blackish diamond wider than it is long, with a mouth at the front of its head between two long rolled head fins, and a whip tail with no sting. It comes in off the blue to be cleaned and will circle a diver who stays still and breathes quietly.
how to recognise it
- an extremely broad head with long head fins either side of a terminal mouth — the mouth is at the FRONT, not underneath
- a short whip-like tail that usually lacks a spine
- blackish above, with denticles covering the upper surface of the disc, so the skin is rough to touch
- the disc is wider than it is long, and it is the largest ray in the world
- the reef manta, the other manta in Australian water, has dark spots on its BELLY between the gill slits; this one does not
don’t confuse with
- Whitespotted eagle ray — the eagle ray is much smaller, has white spots and rings on its back, a duck-bill snout and a long whip tail armed with venomous spines
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-15. Our wording, their facts. Max size 910 cm disc width.
facts
- habitat
- pelagic
- size
- ~450 cm, to 910 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (910 cm disc width); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 9 at 6 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Osprey Reef (Coral Sea), North Horn (Coral Sea), Wolf Rock (Rainbow Beach), Point Lookout (N Stradbroke), Cylinder Beach (N Stradbroke), Amity Point (N Stradbroke — Bay). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
when it has been recorded
JFMAMJJASOND
A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — No take
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
no closed season recorded for this species — that is not the same as open; check the official page
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.