快猫短视频

For the first time, giant devil rays have been filmed courting in the waters of New Zealand. It seems males start pursuing females while they are still pregnant.

In March 2017, recreational fisherman Scott Tindale of the in Albany saw a heavily pregnant female giant devil ray () being pursued by four mature males. The female swam ahead of the males and repeatedly changed direction, as if trying to throw them off. She mostly swam at or near the surface, preventing the males from getting on top of her.

Tindale has now described the incident with biologist of the Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand.

鈥淪he must have been close to giving birth, judging by the size of her,鈥� says Duffy. This suggests mating happens almost immediately after birth. 鈥淢any sharks and rays are thought to have a resting period between pregnancies, but this behaviour suggests that is not the case in giant devil rays.鈥�

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Mating mantas

Such rapid mating is not unheard of, says at the Manta Trust in Dorchester, UK. Female mate within hours or days of giving birth, and may quickly become pregnant again. 鈥淭his was documented with a female manta in captivity, where food is always plentiful and energy expenditure is minimal, and I see it in the wild quite a lot as well.鈥�

However, the female may delay becoming pregnant. 鈥淲e know that sperm storage occurs in several species of sharks,鈥� says Duffy, so the closely-related rays might also do it.

Giant devil rays are , so knowing where they breed is crucial: these breeding grounds could now be protected.

In another piece of good news for the species, in 2015 it emerged that , which were thought to be a separate species, are actually 鈥� meaning the species is more populous than thought.