Manta Catalog Canarias

Founded in 2021

The Canary Islands came next…

Co-founded by Alicia Rodríguez Juncá and Ana Filipa Sobral, Manta Catalog Canarias (MCC) is our second research project. After almost a decade of research, our work expanded to the neighbouring archipelago.

The Canary Islands

An archipelago of 8 islands located off the African coast, bathed by the current of the same name. The volcanic and oceanic nature of the islands gives them their characteristic underwater topography with the presence of great depths near a very rough coastline, small island platforms and seabeds with rock formations. The Canary Current produces upwelling of nutrient-rich deep waters, generating high productivity, which is the source of the richness of the food webs.

Project Overview

This project is the first Mobulid-focused research effort in the Canary Islands and aims to fill this knowledge gap. We have been building the first photo-ID database for Mobulids in the Canaries. By working with local diving centres, fishing community and general public we are collecting data on species occurrence, abundance, seasonality and habitat preference of the species occurring in the waters around the archipelago.

Building upon Manta Catalog Azores’s effort to study the potential connectivity between oceanic islands in the Atlantic, this information is crucial to understand the importance of Macaronesia for these endangered species.

Manta and devil rays in Canarias

The Canary Islands holds mobulid sightings all year round, contrary to other regions, and big groups of sicklefin devil rays (M. tarapacana) are seen in the waters surrouding El Hierro island, in the summer. Three species are currently confirmed for the archipelago (Mobula birostris, Mobula tarapacana and Mobula mobular) and we are working on updating this information soon.

Our knowledge of these species in the region is still very limited and its importance for each species is still unknown. The highly migratory and elusive nature of these animals makes them difficult to study, therefore, increasing research efforts in places where they are regularly encountered is crucial to their conservation.

The Canary Islands represent a key area for the study of Mobulids. The lack of prior research efforts explain the existing knowledge gaps, which we are working to fill. Despite a growing diving interest on these animals, there is still a lack of population and governmental awareness of the importance of their conservation, an equally important area of action for our project.