Manta PNGs

[manta-pngs]

Hello, this is an account dedicated to making and sharing transparent-background PNGs of manta rays (and maybe other mobulas as well). I have minimal experience making PNGs, but I like mantas and thought I'd give it a shot.

I will list credit/sources and add image descriptions for every manta I post and can delete images upon request. I own none of the images on this blog, I've never seen a manta in real life. All images are edited by me unless otherwise stated (I am very against AI image manipulation, it's bad for the environment), and I will generally keep the images the same size as the originals to preserve resolution, but people are free to resize or alter images if they wish. I am open to feedback and to requests (if the source of the image is provided); please keep in mind I make these by hand and am disabled.

If for whatever reason you need to refer to me, my pronouns are it/its.

[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by burtony on iNaturalist (link). The photo is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image description:

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from above; its cephalic fins are furled. It has faint white coloration on its cephalic fins, shoulders, tail, and leading from its dorsal fin to the tips of its pectoral fins. It has notches and scarring on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins, and a scar on its left pectoral fin near the tip.

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[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by Bernhard Huber on iNaturalist (link). This photo is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image description:

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and the front; its cephalic fins are down in a feeding position and its mouth is open. It has white on its underside, parts of its cephalic fins, and faintly on its shoulders. It is covered in dappled sunlight through water.

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[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by Victor E. Chocho on iNaturalist (link). The photo is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image description:

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from the front; its cephalic fins are down and its mouth is closed. What is visible of its ventral side is entirely white, it has white coloration on its shoulders and from the tips of its pectoral fins in a line along their posterior edge. A pair of remoras hitch a ride on its shoulders.

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[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by Michele on iNaturalist (link). These photos are under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and slightly above; its cephalic fins are loosely down and its mouth is closed. Its cephalic fins are white and it has faint white markings on its shoulders and the underside of its tail. Two smaller fish, likely remoras, swim near its back.

A transparent PNG of the same reef manta ray from the front; its cephalic fins are loosely down and its mouth is closed. Its cephalic fins are white and it has faint white markings on its shoulders. Two smaller fish, likely remoras, swim near its back.

/end descriptions

[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by Vsevolod Rudyi on iNaturalist (link). This photo is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image description:

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from above; it has a large notch in its right pectoral fin near the center of its body, its cephalic fins are furled, and a small fish swims in front of it. Its coloration is mostly obscured by the blue of the water, but it has faint white markings on its shoulders.

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[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by David Novo on iNaturalist (link) (first and second sets from the same photographer). These photos are all under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from below; its cephalic fins are down in a feeding position. Its ventral side is primarily white, the trailing half of its pectoral fins are a dark smoky grey and it has black smudges behind its gill slits and a black freckle on its abdomen. A remora hitches a ride between its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are furled, their white edges make a spiral effect. Its ventral side is primarily white, the trailing half of its pectoral fins are a dark smoky grey and it has black smudges behind its gill slits and a black freckle on its abdomen. There is a rusty smudge between one of its cephalic fins and its gill slits. A remora hitches a ride under one of its cephalic fins.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are furled. Its ventral side is primarily white, it has smoky grey coloration around its eyes, the trailing half of its pectoral fins are a dark smoky grey, and it has black smudges behind its gill slits and on its abdomen.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from the side and below; its cephalic fins are furled. Its ventral side is primarily white, it has smoky grey coloration around its eyes, the trailing half of its pectoral fins are a dark smoky grey, and it has black smudges behind its gill slits and on its abdomen.

[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by brutledge on iNaturalist (link). This photo is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image description:

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from a 3/4 view and slightly above; its cephalic fins are down in a feeding position and its mouth is slightly open. It has strong white markings on the undersides of its cephalic fins, on its shoulders, and at the tips of its pectoral fins.

/end description

[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by David Novo on iNaturalist (link) (first set from the same photographer). These photos are all under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of a melanistic (that is, mostly black) giant oceanic manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are down. It has white patches between its gill slits and on its abdomen, and a fish, possibly a remora, swims underneath it.

A transparent PNG of a melanistic (that is, mostly black) reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are furled. It has a white patch on its chest between its gill slits and beside its mouth.

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are furled and a fish swims beneath it. It has smoky grey coloration on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins, black splotches between its gill slits, and some black freckles on its abdomen.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from the side and below; its cephalic fins are furled. Its underside is primarily white, with smoky grey coloration on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins all the way across its wingspan, it has dark markings around its cephalic fins and eyes, and black patches behind its gill slits and on its abdomen. Three fish swim beneath it, one a remora hitching a ride under one cephalic fin.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from the side and below; its cephalic fins are furled. Its underside is primarily white, with smoky grey coloration on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins all the way across its wingspan, it has dark markings around its cephalic fins and eyes, and black patches behind its gill slits and on its abdomen. A remora hitches a ride under its cephalic fin, and two other fish swim beneath it.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from a 3/4 view and above; its cephalic fins are down in a feeding position. It has strong white coloration on its shoulders and in streaks on the insides and along the edges of its cephalic fins, and some white on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins and in a V around its dorsal fin.

/end description

[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by David Novo on iNaturalist (link). These photos are all under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are down. Its ventral side is primarily white, with black freckling on its pectoral fins and black spots between its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of a male (identifiable by the presence of claspers between the pelvic fins) reef manta ray from the side and below; its cephalic fins are down. Its ventral side is primarily white, it has smoky grey coloration on the trailing edge of its pectoral fins that does not extend all the way to the center of its body, black freckles on its abdomen, and two small black spots between its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; it has scarring on its right pectoral fin near the shoulder and its cephalic fins are down. Its ventral side is mostly white, with black at the tips of its cephalic fins on the inner side, smoky grey coloration and black freckles on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins, and long black spots between its gill slits. A remora swims just below its chest.

A transparent PNG of a manta ray from a 3/4 view and above; it appears to have scarring around its mouth and a notch in the trailing edge of its left pectoral fin, and its cephalic fins are down. It has soft white coloration on its shoulders and at the tips of its pectoral fins.

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[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by carol34805 on iNaturalist (link). This photo is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image description:

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from below and slightly behind; its cephalic fins are down and its gills slits are clearly open. Its ventral side is primarily white and it has pale smoky coloration on the trailing edges of its pectoral fins near the tips, black smudges on its abdomen behind its gill slits, dark freckling of varying sizes over its abdomen and pectoral fins, and large black marks between its gill slits. Three small remoras are hitching a ride on its abdomen; two close together on one side and the third on the other.

/end description

[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by Simon J Pierce on iNaturalist (link) (first set from the same photographer). These photos are all under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of a leucistic male (identifiable by the presence of claspers between the pelvic fins) oceanic manta ray from the back. It is mostly pale with patches of darker coloration on its dorsal fin and on the leading edges of its pectoral fins.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from the front; it is oriented vertically with its cephalic fins down in a feeding position and its mouth is closed. The parts of its underside that are visible are predominantly white, and it has a dark patch at the bases of its cephalic fins.

A transparent PNG of a giant oceanic manta ray from below; its cephalic fins are down in a feeding position. Its ventral side is about half white, with smoky coloration on the posterior half of its pectoral fins and abdomen, black freckles on its abdomen, dark smudges around its eyes, and a few large dark spots behind its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are loosely down. Its ventral side is almost entirely white, though it has a few grey freckles on its abdomen and one grey streak between its gill slits; and it has a few notches in its pectoral fins near its tail. There is a small fish swimming close to its underside.

[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by Simon J Pierce on iNaturalist (link). These photos are all under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of a male (identifiable by the presence of claspers between the pelvic fins) reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are furled. Its ventral side is mostly white with smoky smudges on the posterior undersides of its pectoral fins and around its mouth, and it has smudgy black spots between and just behind its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of an oceanic manta ray from below; its cephalic fins are furled. It has black coloration taking up about half of its pectoral fins on the posterior edge, and a set of black freckles behind its gill slits. A pair of remoras hitch a ride just below the cephalic fins.

A transparent PNG of a male (identifiable by the presence of claspers between the pelvic fins) reef manta ray from a 3/4 view and below; its cephalic fins are furled. Its ventral side is mostly white, with smoky coloration at the trailing edge of its pectoral fins and posterior to the gill slits; it has small black freckles on its abdomen and posterior pectoral fins and some larger black streaks between its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of an oceanic manta ray from below; its cephalic fins are extended in a feeding position and its mouth is open. Its ventral side is mostly white with smudgy grey freckles along the trailing edge of its pectoral fins, and a cluster of small black freckles on its abdomen.

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from the side; its cephalic fins are down in a feeding position. What is visible of its ventral side is entirely white and it has two small remoras hanging on to the underside of its pectoral fin.

A transparent PNG of a reef manta ray from below; its cephalic fins are loosely down. Its ventral side is almost entirely white save for a few black freckles across its abdomen and on its pectoral fins.

/end descriptions

[manta-pngs]

Original photographs by Paul Talavera on iNaturalist (link). Both photos are under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Image descriptions:

A transparent PNG of an Atlantic manta ray from below and slightly behind; its cephalic fins are loosely down and its pectoral fins point in opposite directions, forming an S shape. Its ventral side is mostly white save for a large black spot on its abdomen and two more small black spots on its abdomen and behind its gill slits.

A transparent PNG of the same Atlantic manta ray from below and slightly behind; its cephalic fins are loosely down and its pectoral fins both curl upwards (dorsally). Its ventral side is mostly white save for a large black spot on its abdomen and two more small black spots on its abdomen and behind its gill slits.

/end descriptions

[manta-pngs]

Original photograph by jujuwild on iNaturalist (link), this photo is in the public domain.

Image description: A transparent PNG of a melanistic (that is, mostly black) reef manta ray from above; one cephalic fin is furled and the other is down in a feeding position. /end description

[manta-pngs]

Happy World Manta Day :)

[todropscience]

SCIENTISTS UNCOVER A NEW SPECIES OF MANTA RAY IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

For over fifteen years, scientists suspected that a mysterious species of manta ray was hiding in plain sight in the Atlantic Ocean. Often confused with its close relatives, the oceanic manta ray and reef manta ray, this elusive animal was finally confirmed and formally described as a new species: Mobula yarae. Through a careful combination of genetic studies and physical comparisons, researchers showed that this species forms a distinct evolutionary lineage. It has unique features, including a striking V-shaped mark behind its gills, a special kind of skin denticle shaped like a star, and a small residual spine embedded near its tail. These traits, along with its DNA, make it unmistakably different from other known manta rays.

The newly Atlantic Manta Ray Mobula yarae lives only in the Atlantic coast of the Americas, and seems to prefer warm coastal and estuarine waters. Juveniles have been spotted along the Amazon coast, in Florida, and around the oceanic islands of Brazil. Adults, on the other hand, are more common around the Yucatán Peninsula and the southeastern United States. Sadly, this new species is already facing serious threats. It is often caught by accident in fishing gear, hit by boats, tangled in lines, and exposed to growing coastal pollution. These dangers are made worse by the fact that Mobula yarae looks so much like other manta rays, making it difficult to protect unless it is properly identified.

-Distinct colouration of manta ray species. Dorsal and ventral colouration pattern of Mobula birostris a, d, Mobula alfredi b, e, and Mobula yarae c and f.

The name yarae comes from Yara, a mythical figure from the Indigenous Tupi and Guaraní cultures. Yara is known as the mother of the waters, a powerful spirit of beauty and protection. Naming this ray after her is both a tribute and a call to action. The formal recognition of Mobula yarae opens the door for targeted conservation efforts. With its unique traits, restricted Atlantic distribution, and vulnerability to multiple human pressures, this species qualifies for urgent assessment under international and national conservation frameworks. Ensuring accurate identification and monitoring will be essential to prevent further decline and to secure the long-term survival of this newly described manta ray.

Photographs: Sean Rowan Laughlin

Reference: Bucair et al. 2025. An integrative taxonomy investigation unravels a cryptic species of Mobula Rafinesque, 1810 (Mobulidae, Myliobatiformes), from the Atlantic Ocean. Environ Biol Fish