![]() Add 33 years to that (between 19), and she must have been close to 50 years old when pregnant in 2012! ![]() Very exciting in itself, were it not that she was identified in 1979 as a mature female this meant that she was at least 10-15 years old back then. One fascinating thing I witnessed was the manta ray “ W” being pregnant in 2012. Not much is known about manta rays’ fertility rate and the age at which they’re ready to have pups, although we assume they will become available for mating after they’ve reached maturity. There is no definitive research to suggest manta rays follow a specific method when deciding on a partner. It’s not clear who fathered the child in the end, that could only be proven through DNA testing. However, later on, when we checked out the footage, we found out that Lightning Ray pursued her (on his own) as well. We always assumed that “the last man standing” would be the one to inseminate the female, but we’ve seen females being chased by single males after that (and even pregnant females being the target of manta trains).įor instance, in the video below (scroll down!) we see Big Bertha being closely followed by Miles Ray, so we thought he was The One for her. This seemingly leaves only one male left to succeed and impregnate the female manta ray. However, as courtship advances, most males will abandon the train. Sometimes the same female will be chased for several weeks at the time. The largest manta train we have witnessed included 20 male mantas, both young and old, chasing the female. One female manta ray swims up front, followed by several male mantas. The start of the mating ritual is fittingly called ‘manta train’. The courtship process usually first takes place around this age. The Manta Ray Mating Process: How do Mantas Court With Each Other?įemale manta rays normally take 10-15 years to become sexually mature. This article aims to answer everything you ever wanted to know about manta ray reproduction… And it includes adorable pictures of baby mantas, as well as a video describing the process from courting to manta baby (scroll down to watch it!). However, we do know mantas have a slow reproduction rate. There is still a great deal that isn’t fully known about how manta rays reproduce.
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