Reef manta ray

Photo: Luis P. B. · CC BY-NC

The smaller of the two manta species, reef mantas are year-round residents of productive coastal reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific, relying on specific cleaning stations where wrasse remove parasites from their gills, fins, and skin. At Bangka, several cleaning stations are known on the exposed northern reefs, and individual mantas are recognised by their unique spot patterns on the white underside. Classified as Vulnerable, they are slow to reproduce and historically targeted by gill raker fisheries in some nearby areas.