Manta Ray

Scientific name: Manta birostris

There's nothing quite like the sight of a group of Mantas circling a cleaning station in their graceful ballet-like movements. You can see for yourself in the video below.

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Mantas are the largest of the rays, and among the largest of all fishes. They also have the largest brain to body ration of all the sharks and rays, which might explain why they're relatively curious about divers. Rather than objecting to our presence, they often come to investigate divers, and one even seemed to follow us as we left the cleaning station where I filmed the video to head off for our safety stop.

Please note: Identification of fish, corals, etc. is a tricky business. It's entirely possible that I've incorrectly identified a photo I've taken. If you spot an error, please contact me so I can correct it and improve this resource.