{"id":2938,"date":"2026-06-03T11:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saveourseas.com\/sosf-darros-research-centre\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2026-06-03T12:13:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:13:21","slug":"body-boundaries-its-a-no-for-reef-manta-rays-and-remoras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saveourseas.com\/sosf-darros-research-centre\/body-boundaries-its-a-no-for-reef-manta-rays-and-remoras\/","title":{"rendered":"Body boundaries? It\u2019s a no for reef manta rays and remoras"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a routine reef manta ray monitoring dive, scientists at the D\u2019Arros Research Centre in Seychelles recorded the first documented instance of a remora hiding in a reef manta ray\u2019s cloaca (the all-in-one exit for the manta\u2019s digestive and reproductive functions).<\/h2>\n

<\/span>By its nature, the art of natural history centres on being observant. For the scientists who live and work on D\u2019Arros Island in the remote Amirantes Island group in Seychelles, the undercurrent that flows seamlessly through routine surveys, long-term monitoring projects and scientific studies is the opportunity to observe and understand the ocean in a way that is only possible through immersion.<\/p>\n

So when Ellie Moulinie, research officer at the Save Our Seas Foundation D\u2019Arros Research Centre (SOSF-DRC), slipped into the water one morning to start routine monitoring, a never-before-seen behaviour was a possibility \u2013 but not the plan. Was it the misplaced threat of predation that spooked the white suckerfish attached to a two-metre-wide (6.5-foot) juvenile male reef manta ray that was feeding at the ocean\u2019s surface? Whatever it was, the result was weird (to us). While the reef manta ray continued unperturbed, the white suckerfish Remora albescens<\/em>\u00a0disappeared into the cloaca of its host.<\/p>\n

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An adult white suckerfish resting on the pelvic fins of a juvenile reef manta ray in the shallow waters of D\u2019Arros Island, Seychelles. Photo by Elllie Moulinie | \u00a9 Save Our Seas Foundation<\/p><\/div>\n

It reads as an undeniably odd finding, but there\u2019s importance in this record because it helps us understand the diversity of fish life around D\u2019Arros Island. How fish behave and interact can guide research and management for an important reef manta ray aggregation site \u2013 the largest known in the Seychelles Archipelago.<\/p>\n

Reef manta ray monitoring at a key aggregation site<\/h2>\n

The team at the SOSF-DRC monitor a large population of reef manta rays Mobula alfredi<\/em>\u00a0that calls the near-shore waters of D\u2019Arros Island home. Each ray has unique markings on its belly that the team members use to identify different individuals. They free-dive around the reef mantas to take photographs of the spot patterns on the underside of the rays\u2019 bodies and these images become part of a long-term database that allows the team to identify and track individuals.<\/p>\n

This long-term monitoring enables the researchers to decipher how many mantas are using the site, where they spend their time and for how long. Working with the Manta Trust, they incorporate their data into the bigger picture that builds understanding of the population and ecology of reef manta rays in Seychelles.<\/p>\n

On this particular morning, the reef manta ray in question was feeding only 500 metres (0.3 miles) from the shore in water about 15 metres (50 feet) deep. Ellie was taking photos of him when she noticed a single remora hitching a ride near his right pelvic fin. The relaxed reef manta ray swam closer to Ellie, but his passenger was less than thrilled about this move and skedaddled between the pelvic fins and into the cloaca. Reef manta rays, like many animals, have a single opening that allows them to breed and to rid their body of waste. And it\u2019s here that the remora stayed, hiding from the researchers in the water (as the scientists surmise), while the reef manta ray carried on seemingly unconcerned and unhindered.<\/p>\n