Striped stingray

The great Atlantic manta ray, known as Manta birostris, is not only the largest species of ray but also the subject of many biological mysteries. In 1923, American naturalist William Beebe observed a peculiar ray off the coast of the Galapagos Islands that resembled no known species. Its unique features, such as white stripes on its back and protrusions on its head, piqued the interest of researchers, but to this day, this mysterious animal has not been identified. Scientists are wondering whether it could be a new species or merely a mutant of existing rays.

The great Atlantic manta ray (Manta birostris), also known as the devil ray, is the world's largest species of ray. It is famous for its enormous pectoral fins, black on top and white underneath. This enormous fish reaches 6.7 meters (22 feet) across, making it easy to spot and identify. Meanwhile, the mysterious manta ray, briefly seen by the renowned American naturalist William Beebe off the shores of Tower Island in the Galapagos archipelago, was undoubtedly striking. However, it has not been identified to this day.

In his book Galapagos: World's End (1924), Beebe writes that on April 27, 1923, he was aboard the ship Noma when a huge stingray, at least 10 feet long, suddenly crashed against the ship's side. The accident astonished the naturalist. When he looked at it, he was even more astonished because the animal did not resemble any species known to science:

[It was] a fish resembling an ordinary stingray or manta ray, although the posterior portion of the fins lacked distinct depressions, and their lateral edges were not sharp. On its head, it had horn-like projections (formed from the pectoral fins and rising on either side of the mouth), protruding and not curved inward, but rather straight. Its back was dark brown, slightly shaded. Most noticeable were a pair of broad, uniformly white stripes extending halfway down the back on either side of the head. The tips of the "wings" were also uniformly white, creating a sharp contrast with the color of the back.More than 70 years have passed. The white-striped manta ray described by Beebe has yet to be captured or identified. It is not unique, however. German researcher Gunther G. Sehm recently stated in the journal Cryptozoology that a photograph published in 1976 of a strange-looking manta ray spotted off the coast of New Caledonia clearly indicates that the animal has symmetrical white stripes on its back. Furthermore, on December 28, 1989, while watching the documentary "Sharks: Hunters of the Seas," broadcast on German television, Sehm noticed a 30-second sequence in which a giant manta ray with white, symmetrically arranged V-shaped stripes on its dorsal surface appeared. The manta ray was captured by Sigurd Tesche, the film's director, from a short distance in the waters off Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. It is also worth noting that a small manta ray with a black back with a bluish tint and two very wide, light V-shaped stripes was harpooned in 1924 off the shores of Fanning Island in the Central Pacific. In 1934, it was officially recognized as a new species, Manta fowleri, but no other specimens have been observed or described since.

Although highly distinctive, these strange rays may simply be mutants of known ray species, like the striped crows and other unusually colored animals of known species. However, if we consider what Beebe wrote about the "horns" adorning the head of the striped manta ray, we cannot rule out the possibility that we are dealing with an unknown species. We will only find a solution to this mystery by finding a specimen of this strange fish and subjecting it to scientific study that will reveal its true place in the taxonomy of species.