Mobula yarae Bucair, Hinojosa-Alvarez, Marshall, Pate, Francini, Garrido, Capel, Loboda, Monteiro, Bruno, Vaga, Dove, Hoopes, Perry & Kitahara, 2025, sp. nov.

Mobula yarae sp. nov. Bucair & Marshall. (Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12c and f, 13, 14, 15, 16a and b, and 17). urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1B93E682-1D6A-45BA-87FF-81BAE5BC791D. Manta birostris. - Bigelow and Schroeder (1953), p. 482 (footnote 62), 483, 484, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 508, figs. 111, 112, 116 (except F, G and H), and 117, morphological description of body parts of the specimen MCZ 37005. Ari (2014), p. 181 - 185, figs. 1 and 2 (identified as Manta 1). Ari (2015), p. 407, 408, 412, fig. 5 (identified as Manta 1). Manta sp. cf. birostris. - Marshall et al. (2009), p. 1, 3, 12, 22-25 figs. 8, 16. White et al. (2018), p. 51. Mobula cf. birostris. Stewart et al. (2018b), p. 1-6, fig. 2. Stevens et al. (2018a), p. 110-111, figures of Caribbean manta ray 1 and 2, and distribution map. Pate and Marshall (2020), p. 51-53, 55-58, 62, figs. 1, 4c-f, and 6. Bucair et al. (2021a), p. 1, 3-10, figs. 1c and e, 3b, 6c, and 7. Bucair et al. (2021b), p. 1, 3-7, 9, figs. 2c, 3, and 4. Medeiros et al. (2021), p. 203, 204, 208, 210, 213, 215, fig. 2. Medeiros et al. (2022), p. 775-776, 778-782, figs. 1, 2a,b,c. Bucair et al. (2023), p. 1611-1615, fig. 1. Bucair et al. (2024b), p. 2-4, 6-8, figs. 2, 4, 5d and e. Pate (2024), p. 5, fig.1. Mobula birostris. Hinojosa-Alvarez et al. (2016), p. 1-16, figs. 4e-g, 5, 6, 7 (referred to as Yucatán Manta Ray). Hosegood et al. (2020), p. 4784-4786, 4788-4792, figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 (referred to as putative new Mobula species). Mobula sp. cf. birostris. White et al. (2018), p. 65. Holotype Female 248 cm DW found on July 19th, 2017, at Pompano Beach, Florida, USA (26°14′3″N, 80°07′19.20″W), is housed in the Vertebrate Zoology, Fishes Division of the Smithsonian Institution (USNM collection number: 443866), hereafter identified as manta M10. The specimen was preserved in its integrity, except for the caudal bulb and tooth band, which were photographed, but lost before storage. The complete mitogenome sequence and the partial nuclear genome of the holotype are deposited in GenBank (accession numbers PV339738 and PRJNA1147742 respectively). Type locality Pompano Beach (26°14′3″N, 80°07′19.20″W), Florida, USA. Paratypes Parts of a juvenile female (manta M1—chondrocranium, mandible, vertebrae, dorsal and ventral dermal denticles, and gill plates), a fairly well-decomposed carcass, found stranded on April 5th, 2019, at Ilha Comprida, São Paulo, Brazil, are housed in the Fish Collection of the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (MZUSP collection number: 129738). Tissue samples, dermal denticles, and gill plates from the same specimen are also frozen at the Biological Collection “Prof. Edmundo F. Nonato” of the Institute of Oceanography of the University of São Paulo (ColBIO collection numbers: FISH00213). The complete mitogenome sequence and the partial nuclear genome of this specimen are deposited in GenBank (accession numbers PP316123 and PRJNA1147742 respectively). Chondrocranium of a juvenile female (manta M12) captured at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (3°51′13″S, 32°25′25″W), Brazil, is housed in the Fish Collection of the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (manta M12— MZUSP collection number: 129740). Fragments of skin, including the dermal denticles of a juvenile female (manta M3) captured at Natal (5°47′40″S, 35°12′40″W), Brazil, are housed in the Fish Collection of the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (MZUSP collection number: 129739). The mitogenome sequence of this specimen is deposited in GenBank (accession number PP329119). Additional material Measurements and meristic analyses of juvenile male (manta M9) collected in Bimini, Bahamas, originally identified as Mobula birostris (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). This specimen’s body parts, including the head, dermal denticles, tail, dorsal and pelvic fins, are housed in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ 37005). Measurements, tooth band and skin of a female from Florida (manta M11); and mitogenomes of living specimens, including a juvenile male (manta M2) sampled at Fernando de Noronha, Brazil, and three adult females (manta M4, M5 and M6) (Isla Cotoy and Cabo Catoche, Mexico). Etymology Named after a Brazilian legend in which Yara (Iara or Uiara), a beautiful Amazonian indigenous and excellent warrior, is thrown into the water as a punishment. Yara, saved by the fishes, assumed a chimerical form (part fish and part woman), empowered with enchantment. Of dazzling beauty, the noun Yara, in the indigenous Tupi mythology, means “mother of water” or “mãe d’água” in Portuguese. The specific epithet, yarae, is in reverence to “Yara”, mother of the waters, from ancient Tupi and Guaraní mythology. Suggested common names Atlantic manta ray. Diagnosis Mobula yarae sp. nov. is a large-sized mobulid, with terminal mouth and tooth band only in the lower jaw, like the closest congeners— M. alfredi and M. birostris (vs. M. eregoodoo, M. hypostoma, M. kuhlii, M. mobular, M. munkiana, M. tarapacana, and M. thurstoni, with subterminal mouth), and is characterised by the following combination of characters: small cusped teeth in 9–13 transversal rows in the tooth band (vs. 12–16 rows in M. birostris and 6–8 rows in M. alfredi); filter lobes positioned anterior to branchial filaments, laterally fused and with transverse projected bristles; disc width 2.2 times larger than disc length; ellipsoidal calcified mass posterior to the dorsal fin with a longitudinal length of 4.3% of DL (vs. 6% DL in M. birostris), with an embedded residual serriform caudal spine in the posterior portion facing upwards (vs. facing backwards in M. birostris); stellate-shaped dermal denticles, ramifications with non-bifurcated tips, arranged in raised ridges longitudinally aligned in dorsal and ventral body surfaces (vs. cross-shaped dermal denticles with bifid cusps arranged randomly in M. birostris and stellate base denticles with the tips of the star base bifurcated and arranged uniformly in M. alfredi); and dorsal surface predominantly black, with symmetrical white supra-branchial patches diagonally aligned. Morphometric description Morphometric comparisons are based on juvenile specimens due to the limited availability of adult specimens examined. While this introduces certain limitations, it reflects the best available data and follows established precedent for elasmobranch descriptions under similar constraints. In addition to measurements of a preserved chondrocranium (M12), measurements from four other specimens (M1, M9, M10 and M11) were evaluated. Due to the absence of pectoral fins in large mobulid landings, carcasses, and the integrity of preserved specimens, the body morphometric proportions were calculated in relation to the disc length (DL). Table 3 shows the morphometrics evaluation of M. yarae sp. nov. Additionally, the head is dorsally flat, with the margin of the rostrum concave, with broad sides towards the origins of cephalic fins. When unfolded, the cephalic fins meet in the centre of the mouth. The mouth opening is 62.67% of the head width, and the tooth band, present only in the lower jaw, comprises a length of ~ 70% of mouth width. The distance between the nostrils totals 92% of mouth width. Spiracles are located above the pectoral fin insertion; the distance between them is ~ 85% of head width. The whip-like tail is thicker at the base near the dorsal fin. Morphologic description The skin is covered with stellate-shaped dermal denticles with high ridges that do not overlap and are longitudinally aligned with the body disc length orientation on the dorsal and ventral surfaces. The dermal denticle structure of Mobula yarae sp. nov. (Fig. 4) is different from that of M. birostris and M. alfredi (see Marshall et al. 2009 for comparison). In general, the structure and shape of the dermal denticles of Mobula yarae sp. nov. are similar on the ventral and dorsal body surfaces. However, the ventral denticles are larger and more spaced. The distribution of the dermal denticle is also denser in the dorsal, pelvic fins and trailing edge of the pectoral fins, close to the pelvic fins. Variations in size and number of ramifications of the dermal denticles have also been observed (Fig. 4b). Similarly to Mobula birostris, a calcified cartilaginous mass with an embedded caudal spine is located posteriorly to the dorsal fin. The mass is covered with a skin layer with dermal denticles (similar to those from the rest of the body’s dermal surface) but lacks the collagenous connective tissue to the tail (as detailed by Marshall et al. 2009). As in M. birostris, only a small part, the tip, of the residual caudal spine projects out of the calcified mass in Mobula yarae sp. nov. (Fig. 5), which is similar in structure to that found in Mobula mobular (dorsally flat and sawed sideways), the only species of the genus to have a functional spine. The calcified structure is ellipsoidal and slightly dorsally flattened, with the tip of the spine facing upwards (Fig. 5b, d) and not backwards, as in M. birostris (Marshall et al. 2009). The anterior portion is thinner, while the posterior portion presents a sharp slope towards the tail. Unlike M. birostris, the embedded caudal spine of Mobula yarae sp. nov. is inclined within the calcified mass, and although reduced, it has lateral serrations, with the protrusions more well-developed in the internal part of the calcified mass (Figs. 5d and 6b). The dorsal surface of the embedded spine is slightly concave, with at least three longitudinal dorsal grooves (Fig. 6). The ventral face of the spine is convex with the presence of a well-developed longitudinal ventral ridge at its base that supports the spine (Fig. 6). In addition to the juvenile specimens examined in this study, the caudal bulb was observed in adults in the wild. Like in other Mobula species, the teeth in Mobula yarae sp. nov. are arranged in narrow bands alongside the edge of the jaw, composed of a variable number of rows