A historical and contemporary consideration of the diet of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

M B Bennett; F F Coman; Kathy A Townsend; L I E Couturier; F R A Jaine; A J Richardson

doi:10.1071/MF16046

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A historical and contemporary consideration of the diet of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Journal article

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A historical and contemporary consideration of the diet of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

M B Bennett, F F Coman, Kathy A Townsend, L I E Couturier, F R A Jaine and A J Richardson

Marine and Freshwater Research, Vol.68(5), pp.993-997

2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/MF16046

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Abstract

elasmobranch

filter-feeding

mobulid

zooplankton

The preserved stomach contents from the manta ray, collected in 1935, that provided the basis for the 2009 taxonomic resurrection of the species Manta alfredi, were examined. The majority of the material comprised calanoid copepods (61.7%) and trypanorhynch cestodes (34.6%), with minor contributions by arrow worms, a barnacle larva and a nematode. Comparison of the size-frequency distributions of stomach contents with that of zooplankton from the Great Barrier Reef region suggest that this manta ray preferentially ingested large copepods, or that the filter mechanism used to extract prey from the water was selective for prey items over 0.8mm in length. This is the first description of the diet of M. alfredi from stomach contents, and is consistent with previous inferences about what this species consumes. Journal compilation © CSIRO 2017.

Details

Title: A historical and contemporary consideration of the diet of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Authors: M B Bennett (Author) - University of Queensland
F F Coman (Author) - CSIRO
Kathy A Townsend (Author) - University of Queensland
L I E Couturier (Author) - University of Queensland
F R A Jaine (Author) - Manta Ray and Whale Shark Research Center, Mozambique
A J Richardson (Author) - CSIRO
Publication details: Marine and Freshwater Research, Vol.68(5), pp.993-997
Publisher: C S I R O Publishing
DOI: 10.1071/MF16046
ISSN: 1323-1650
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science and Engineering - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451047002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Fisheries; Limnology; Marine & Freshwater Biology; Oceanography

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