The importance of key aggregation sites for juvenile Manta Rays (Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris), and the impacts of anthropogenic threats

螳螂(Mobula alfredi和Mobula birostris)是生长缓慢的软骨鱼类，成熟晚，繁殖力低，极易受到过度开发的影响。一些人为威胁影响全球螳螂，包括对副渔获物和目标渔业的易感性，这在一定程度上是由亚洲对沙棘鳃片的药用需求推动的。在马尔代夫群岛，螳螂受到国家保护，不受渔业的影响，而且数量非常健康。然而，在马尔代夫以北的斯里兰卡，我们发现了世界上最大的小型渔业，在那里我们发现这些物种的成鱼不再存在于这些水域中，只有幼鱼被捕获，如果不改变这一点，将导致该地区的当地灭绝。该项目旨在通过确定幼年个体使用的关键栖息地，如幼崽和托儿所，扩大对螳螂幼体生活期的研究，这些栖息地在世界各地仍然相对较少被研究。该项目的长期目标是规划和设计海洋保护区的政策以及保护这些物种免遭进一步减少的其他养护举措。

Manta rays (Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris) are slow-growing cartilaginous fishes, and their late maturity and low fecundity leave them highly vulnerable to overexploitation. A number of anthropogenic threats impact manta rays globally, including susceptibility to by-catch and targeted fisheries, which are partly driven by the Asian medicinal demand for mobulid gill plates. In the Maldives Archipelago manta rays are nationally protected from fisheries and are abundantly healthy in numbers. In Sri Lanka however, just north of the Maldives, we find the world's largest mobulid fishery, where it has been found that no more adults of these species exist in these waters with only juveniles being caught, which if un-changed will lead to local extinction within the area. This project aims to expand research on the juvenile life stage of manta rays, by identifying critical habitats used by young of year individuals such as pupping and nursery areas, which remain relatively understudied around the world. This project has the long-term goal of planning and designing policies for marine protected areas and other conservation initiatives to protect these species from further reduction.