manta birostris

3 definitions found

manta birostris - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Devilfish \Dev"il*fish`\, n. (Zool.)
     (a) A huge ray (Manta birostris or Cephaloptera vampyrus)
         of the Gulf of Mexico and Southern Atlantic coasts.
         Several other related species take the same name. See
         Cephaloptera.
     (b) A large cephalopod, especially the very large species of
         Octopus and Architeuthis. See Octopus.
     (c) The gray whale of the Pacific coast. See Gray whale.
     (d) The goosefish or angler (Lophius), and other allied
         fishes. See Angler.
         [1913 Webster]

  Cephaloptera \Ceph`a*lop"te*ra\
     (s[e^]f`[.a]*l[o^]p"t[-e]*r[.a]), n. [NL., fr. Gr. kefalh`
     head + ptero`n wing.] (Zool.)
     One of the generic names of the gigantic ray (Manta birostris
     ) of the family Mobulidae, known as devilfish,
     sea devil, manta and manta ray. It is common on the
     coasts of South Carolina, Florida, and farther south, and is
     sometimes found as far north as New York Bay. Some of them
     grow to enormous size, becoming twenty feet of more across
     the body, and weighing more than a ton.
     [1913 Webster]

manta birostris - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Manta birostris
      n 1: largest manta (to 22 feet across wings); found worldwide
           but common in Gulf of Mexico and along southern coasts of
           United States; primarily oceanic [syn: Atlantic manta,
           Manta birostris]