Volume 75
Devils in our ocean backyard: Preliminary data from the western coast of Florida and call for contributions to elucidate the distribution and seasonality of Mobula hypostoma in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea
Authors
Boggio-Pasqua, A; Bassos-Hull, B; Wilkinson, K.A; Degroot, B; Ballard, K. Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2022
Pages: 159-160
Event: Proceedings of the Seventy-Five Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Fort Walton Beach
Country: USA
Abstract
The Western Atlantic pygmy devil ray, Mobula hypostoma, is the smallest of the six mobulid species present in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea region. Although this ray is currently listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List based on reduced observations throughout its range (Marshall et al., 2019), increasing sightings have been reported on the southeast coast of the US over the last 20 years, both from coastal stakeholders and research trawl surveys (Bizzarro et al., 2009). Most of the species biology and ecology remains unknown, including exact distribution and seasonal presence in the confirmed areas of its range.