What is a Manta Ray? Facts and Information

Manta ray are strange, otherworldly creatures. They glide through the waters of vibrant tropical oceans with an enchanting, almost ethereal quality. They look like beasts of fantasy or alien worlds, not your ocean-dwelling animal. For this reason, swimming with manta rays can be an unusual experience. But what exactly are they?

Is a Manta Ray a Shark?

No, a manta ray is not a shark. They belong to the same class of animal, which means they are closely related biologically - much closer than they are related to other fish, like tuna, but they are not sharks.  

Is a Manta Ray a Fish?

Yes, sort of. How does this make sense if they are not sharks, but more closely related to sharks than fish? 

Well...

Manta ray are flat-body fish. As with sharks, they are related to your standard fish, but they have a number of physical and genetic differences which means they cannot be classified as the same animal. A fish is a class of animal, like a mammal or a reptile. They are related to fish in the same way humans are related to elephants. The connection is there, but the chain of evolution branched off a long time ago. 

This is why they are technically fish, but not sharks. They are much closer to sharks in terms of genetics than a salmon, but they are not sharks because sharks are another kind of fish, like a manta ray. 

The best comparison is that humans are mammals, closely related to apes. But, we’re not apes, yet we’re both mammals. Our link comes higher up the biological classification. The same can be said for manta rays. 

Is a Manta Ray a Stingray?

The manta ray closely resembles a stingray. With a wide-body and pointed tail, they aren’t as rounded as most stingray, but other than that, they look fairly similar. But manta rays are not stingray. They are very closely related to stingray - even more closely than they are to sharks - and come from the same biological group, but have distinctions that mean they are not of the same family. 

Their difference is similar to the difference between an owl and raptor (like a hawk or an eagle). Lots of similar characteristics, but different enough to be classed at their own type of animal. 

What is a Manta Ray?

A manta ray is a very distinct creature. It is of the Mobulidae family, which consists of itself and devil rays. They are the only animals within this very exclusive biological group. A manta is technically a fish, as a shark is, but their distinctions make them more complex. 

It has, however, also considered to be separate from other rays that are not stingray, such as eagle rays and mobula rays. Some experts claim that manta are a subspecies of the ray family, others suggest they are their own family entirely. 

What’s important to know that a manta ray is a manta ray. It’s one of the more complex large animals to identify in terms of a family line. A lion is a cat, an orca is a dolphin, a manta ray is a manta ray. 

There is nothing quite like the gentle manta.