manta ray

English

a manta ray (Mobula birostris, syn. Manta birostris)

Etymology

From Spanish manta (“blanket”); according to Jorge Juan y Santacilia and Antonio de Ulloa, so called “for being broad and long like a quilt”.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmæntə ɹeɪ/

Noun

manta ray (plural manta rays)

1. Any of several very large pelagic rays formerly of the genus Manta, now placed in genus Mobula, with winglike pectoral fins, a long tail, and two fins resembling horns that project from the head.

   Synonyms: manta, sea pancake, majestic flap-flap, majestic sea flap-flap

   • 2020, Jenny Offill, Weather, Granta Books (2021), page 181:

     My favorite are the manta rays. We watch them wing past. The have the largest brain of any fish, I remember.

Translations

any of several very large pelagic rays

• Arabic: شيطان البحر m
• Bulgarian: манта (bg) (manta)
• Catalan: manta (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蝠鱝 / 蝠鲼 (zh) (fúfèn), 鬼蝠魟 / 鬼蝠𫚉 (guǐfúhóng)

• Finnish: paholaisrausku (fi)
• French: raie manta (fr) m
• German: Mantarochen m, Riesenmanta m
• Hungarian: manta (hu)
• Japanese: 鬼糸巻鱝, 鬼糸巻鱏 (オニイトマキエイ, oniitomakiei)
• Navajo: łóóʼ adishishí ntsxaaígíí
• Polish: manta (pl) f
• Portuguese: jamanta (pt) f, manta (pt) f
• Russian: ма́нта (ru) m (mánta), морско́й дья́вол m (morskój dʹjávol)
• Spanish: mantarraya (es) f, manta gigante f
• Swedish: manta (sv) c

Further reading

• manta ray on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mobula birostris on Wikispecies.Wikispecies