Marine life  /  Sharks & rays  /  Sicklefin devil ray
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Species entry

Sicklefin devil ray

Mobula tarapacana

A large devil ray of offshore seamounts with long sickle-shaped wings, which dives below a thousand metres and surfaces to be cleaned.

Size
To 330 cm
Depth
10–40 m
Habitat
Open water off the northern islands
Active
Daylight
Range
Eastern Pacific
Rarity
Galapagos Islands
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
SP-01
sicklefin devil ray · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

To about 3.7 m across the disc, olive-brown above with a paler back margin, and long sickle-shaped wings. It is much larger than Munk’s devil ray and it is separated from a manta by the underslung mouth.

It occurs around offshore seamounts and it dives deep — recorded below a thousand metres — surfacing and visiting cleaning stations, which is when it is seen. At the Galapagos and Cocos it is an occasional animal at a cleaning station in mid-water. It has no sting.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Galapagos Islands Ecuador editorial estimate
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Year-round
10–40 m
Open water off the northern islands
Cocos Island Costa Rica editorial estimate
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Year-round
10–40 m
Seamounts
Islas Revillagigedo Mexico editorial estimate
4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Year-round
10–40 m
Open water around the seamounts

Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.

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