Mobula Munkiana at 32′ La Mobula
Mobula munkiana
32′ La Mobula is a one-of-a-kind custom vessel that feels like a stylish beach club at sea. This spacious custom 40-foot catamaran is fully equipped with all of the modern creature comforts you’d expect, including a private cabin with a bathroom.cabo bachelorette party
Whether you choose to snorkel with the Mobula or head out on a pelagic encounter, you’ll be sure to enjoy a spectacular time in the water. There’s never been a better time to take a trip out to the waters of Baja California Sur aboard one of these unique custom vessels!
The Mobula Ray, also known as a Devil Ray, is an iconic species that frequents tropical and subtropical oceanic surface waters. They are known for their acrobatic movements, which can be seen in schools up to thousands of individual rays!
They have a dark brown to bluish black back with a large darker mark on the nape of their neck, and a white ventral side. The skin is smooth, with a scattering of conical and ridge-shaped tubercles.
It is a predatory species that feeds on mysidaceans and euphausiids such as Nyctiphanes simplex. They are found in neritic and coastal habitats throughout the Eastern Pacific, from Mexico to Peru29.
In Mexico, they are listed as NEAR THREATENED on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species29 and are nationally protected under NOM-029-PESC-2006 and NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 regulations33. However, illegal targeted fishing still occurs in several areas within their range33.
The Mobula munkiana is known for its social behavior18, often congregating in large aggregations of up to thousands of individuals, presumedly for mating purposes15. Their conservation status was updated in 2018 from NEAR THREATENED to VULNERABLE on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species29, but illegal fishing continues to negatively impact their population33.
In our study, we captured 95 Mobula munkiana at Ensenada Grande in Baja California Sur between August 2017 and June 2018. Captures were conducted using encircling surface cotton twine nets 150 m long, 15 m deep, with 25 cm mesh (Supplementary Information Table S1). We caught adults, juveniles, and neonates during five capture trips. We evaluated individuals for sex, disc width, and courtship behavior, including initiation and endurance as well as clasper development in males.