The Pygmy Devil Ray (Mobula eregoodootenkee) is classified as a Near Threatened Mobula. Mobula are slow-growing, large-bodied migratory, planktivorous animals with small, highly fragmented populations that are sparsely distributed across the tropical and temperate oceans of the world. Their biological and behavioural characteristics (low reproductive rates, late maturity and aggregating behaviour) make these species particularly vulnerable to over-exploitation in fisheries and extremely slow to recover from depletion.
Little is known about the Pygmy Devil Ray, but it is believed that it specializes in catching small schooling fishes, using rapid acceperation to lunge through densely packed schools of fish. It is widely distributed through the coastal continental waters of the tropical Indo-West Pacific.
Mobula rays are caught in commercial and artisanal fisheries throughout their global warm water range in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Directed fisheries primarily utilize harpoons and nets, while significant bycatch occurs in purse seine, gill and trawl net fisheries targeting other species, including on the high seas. A recent surge in demand for mobula ray products (gill plates) in China and reports of increased direct fishing effort in key range states suggests an urgent and escalating threat to these species.
As large species which feed low in the food chain, Mobula can be viewed as indicator species for the overall health of the ecosystem. Studies have suggested that removing large, filter-feeding organisms from marine environments can result in significant, cascading species composition changes.
Instruments de la CMS | CMS, Requins (2016) |
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IUCN Status | Near threatened |
Date of entry in Appendix I | 2014 |
Date d'inscription à l'Annexe II | 2014 |
Pays | Australia, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Kuwait, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Viet Nam, Yemen |
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Anglais | Pygmy Devil Ray, Longhorned Devil Ray |
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Classe | Chondrichthyes |
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Ordre | Myliobatiformes |
Famille | Mobulidae |
Nom scientifique | Mobula eregoodootenkee |
Author | (Bleeker, 1859) |
Standard reference | Eschmeyer, W.N. (1990). Catalogue of the Genera of Recent Fishes. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California. |
Synonyms | Mobula diabolus (Whitley, 1940) |