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Not just Shark Pictures: Elasmodiver contains photos of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark pictures  and sections on shark evolution, biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters. Elasmodiver is now so difficult to check for updates, that new information and pictures are listed on an Elasmodiver Updates Page that can be accessed here:

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ELASMODIVER EXPANDED

If you're looking for a broader range of marine life pictures the following links represent a new area that contains pictures on other marine organisms and on marine habitats. This expansion of Elasmodiver is in its first stages but will eventually include pages on everything from sea stars to nudibranches. Creating this portal will take time and for now it consists of a token offering of fish pictures. Please return regularly to enjoy the progress.

FISH PICTURES

BENTFIN DEVIL RAY

More bentfin devil ray photographs

View all available shark and ray images in the SHARKIVE

Common Names: Bentfin devil ray, Smoothtail mobula, Thurston's devil ray.

Latin Name: Mobula thurstoni

Family: Mobulidae

Identification: Anterior margin of pectoral fins have a double bend. Wing tips  relatively broad. Dorsal fin has a white tip. Tail spines absent. Ventrum white with two black patches.

Size: Maximum disc width 1.8m. Disc width at birth 63cm.

Habitat: Most common in inshore waters from the surface to 100m or more.

Abundance and distribution: Circumtropical. Sea of Cortez to Southern Mexico west to Senegal and South Africa also reported from the Red Sea , Indonesia , and the Gulf of Thailand .

Behavior: Usually seen free swimming singly or in very small groups. Leaps clear of the water sometimes somersaulting. Feeds on planktonic organisms. May rest at surface with wingtips protruding or rest on bottom. 

Reproduction: Mating in the Sea of Cortez occurs in spring.

Observations:

Photographs: Los Morros Reef, Cabo Pulmo, Baja.

Similar species: Japanese devil ray – Mobula japonica, Pygmy devil ray – Mobula munkiana, Sicklefin devil ray – Mobula tarapanaca, Lesser devil ray – Mobula hypostoma.

Reaction to divers: The Bentfin Devil ray moves away when pursued. As illustrated by the poor photographs; this is a difficult ray to get close to.

Diving logistics: This is a sporadically seen ray. It can sometimes be encountered by divers in the lower Cortez.

Other diving locations submitted by readers:

Further reading:

       Reef Sharks and Rays of the World. Scott W. Michael. Sea Challengers.

       Sharks and Rays - Elasmobranch Guide of the World. Ralf M. Hennemann. IKAN.  

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