Underwater ultrasonography confirms pregnancy and identifies developmental stages in free-swimming oceanic manta rays (Mobula birostris).

Authors

Madalena Pereira Cabral, Alisa L Newton, Jessica H Pate, Tania Pelamatti

Published in

Journal of fish biology. Sep 24, 2026. Epub Sep 24, 2026.

Abstract

This study provides the first in situ confirmation and developmental characterization of pregnancy in free-swimming oceanic manta rays (Mobula birostris) using underwater contactless ultrasonography in Revillagigedo National Park, Mexico. Foetal morphology enabled characterization of developmental stages, including one middle-stage and two late-stage pregnancies. External distension was absent in the middle-stage case but detectable in late-stage pregnancies, though not always evident in video imagery. These findings demonstrate that underwater ultrasonography is a feasible, non-invasive approach to improve pregnancy detection and refine reproductive parameters in wild manta ray populations.

PMID:
42779450
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Sep 2026.

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