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Mobula rays are a group of elasmobranchs, often referred to as devil rays and belong to the sub-family Mobulidae. Mobulidae contain the nine recognised species of mobula ray and the two recognised species of manta rays. Mobulid rays are characterised by their diamond shaped bodies and wing-like pectoral fins that aid in their pelagic lifestyle. Mobula rays in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) have been reported to breach as high as 2 metres above the sea.

Mobulas are found in tropical and temperate seas in both shallow and deep water and planktivorous feeders that have modified gill plates for filtering plankton from the water. Unfortunately, Mobulids, in particular mobula rays, are threatened by anthropogenic activites including pollution, entanglement in fishing nets, and direct harvesting for their gill rakers for use in Chinese medicine. Their slow reproductive rate exacerbates these threats. Unfortunately, little is known about the genus, much of it being from anecdotal accounts, and it is therefore difficult to implement protective measures for these threatened species.

Taxonomy and etymology
Mobula rays are also known as "devil rays" because of their horn-shaped cephalic fins which give them an "evil" appearance. They belong to the class Chondrichthyes because they have tough cartilage rather than bone in their skeletons. Mobulas are elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), in the superorder Batoidea (rays and skates) and the order Myliobatiformes (stingrays and relatives). The genus Mobula is part of the eagle ray family Myliobatidae, where it is grouped in the subfamily Mobulinae along with manta rays.

There are nine described species of mobula ray recognised by Fishbase in which the first was described in the late 1700s :
 * Mobula eregoodootenkee (Bleeker, 1859) (Pygmy devil ray)
 * Mobula hypostoma (Bancroft, 1831) (Lesser devil ray)
 * Mobula japanica (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841) (Spinetail mobula)
 * Mobula kuhlii (J. P. Müller & Henle, 1841) (Shortfin devil ray)
 * Mobula mobular (Bonnaterre, 1788) (Devil fish)
 * Mobula munkiana Notarbartolo di Sciara, 1987 (Munk's devil ray)
 * Mobula rochebrunei (Vaillant, 1879) (Lesser Guinean devil ray)
 * Mobula tarapacana (Philippi {Krumweide}, 1892) (Chilean devil ray)
 * Mobula thurstoni (Lloyd, 1908) (Smoothtail mobula)

Mobulas evolved from bottom-dwelling stingrays, eventually developing more wing-like pectoral fins. The mouths of most rays lie on the underside of the head, whereas in mobulas, like in mantas, they are found at the front to enable efficient filter feeding. The description of mobula species has proven to be very difficult due to their morphological similarities and therefore the taxonomic history of the species is complicated. Even now, misidentification is common for example, M. mobular and M. kuhlii are often confused. This problem is often exacerbated by the numerous common names and synonyms that exist for these species.

Fossil record
While some small teeth have been found, few fossilized skeletons of manta rays have been discovered. Their cartilaginous skeletons do not preserve well as they lack the calcification of the bony fish. Only three sedimentary beds bearing manta ray fossils are known, one from the Oligocene in South Carolina and two from the Miocene and Pliocene in North Carolina. Remains of an extinct species have been found in the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina. These were originally described as Manta fragilis but were later reclassified as Paramobula fragilis.