Check List 20(3): 646-652, doi: 10.15560/20.3.646
First records of Mobula hypostoma (Bancroft, 1831), Atlantic Pygmy Devil Ray, (Myliobatiformes, Mobulidae) and other devil rays in shallow waters of the Republic of the Congo, Gulf of Guinea (West Africa)
Marijke N. de Boer‡§, Agnieszka Wieczorek§, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara|‡ University of Wageningen, Den Helder, Netherlands§ Seven Seas Marine Consultancy, Amsterdam, Netherlands| Tethys Research Institute, Milano, Italy
Corresponding author: Marijke N. de Boer ( marijkedeboer@hotmail.com ) Academic editor: Eva Decru © Marijke N. de Boer, Agnieszka Wieczorek, Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
de Boer MN, Wieczorek A, Notarbartolo di Sciara G (2024) First records of Mobula hypostoma (Bancroft, 1831), Atlantic Pygmy Devil Ray, (Myliobatiformes, Mobulidae) and other devil rays in shallow waters of the Republic of the Congo, Gulf of Guinea (West Africa). Check List 20(3): 646-652. https://doi.org/10.15560/20.3.646 |  |
Abstract
Mobula hypostoma (Bancroft, 1831), Atlantic Pygmy Devil Rays, were observed during megafauna surveys in the shallow coastal waters off the Republic of the Congo. These are the first records of this species in its natural habitat in Congolese waters, which may well offer an important habitat for these coastal batoids, but further research is needed. There is an urgent need for management measures to protect M. hypostoma throughout its African range, particularly in view of the recent increase in fishing activities within the region.
Keywords
Conservation, distribution, elasmobranch, megafauna survey