Very rare pink manta ray spotted: its color still remains a mystery

Photographer accidentally crosses the very rare pink manta ray: the reason for its unusual and curious color is still a mystery.

He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

This is truly spectacular manta ray of pink color accidentally immortalized by photographer Kristian Laine off the southernmost island of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, but where does this unique shade come from?

Kristian does not know this as he had no idea that manta rays of this color existed, convinced that pink was due to some malfunction of the camera. But no, the manta ray immortalized by him is unique in the world and also has a nickname, Inspector Clouseau, in honor of the clumsy detective of the Pink Panther films.

The photographer published the images on his social media commenting:

“The pink manta ray of the worlds is called Inspector Clouseau. What an extraordinary and absolutely unforgettable meeting. "

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A post shared by Kristian Laine | Ocean | Sea (@kristianlainephotography)

It was first spotted in 2015 and they have come across it no more than 10 times since. Scientists from the Australian research group Project Manta confirmed that its color is real, but if at first they believed that that shade was due to an infection or a diet of the skin, they later understood that the causes were other .

Normally the manta ray is white, black or white and black, characterized by melanism, or by a greater quantity of black (or almost black) pigmentation, a rare feature in the marine world. And according to Project Manta, the manta rose has a genetic mutation in melanin that could provide valuable insight into how the color of these fish has evolved over time.

Look away, nothing to see here, just a fluorescent pink reef manta ray visiting one of our favorite places, Lady Elliot…

Posted by Project Manta – The manta rays of Australia on Sunday, February 9, 2020

But the mutation, according to other scientific theories supported by the Manta Trust, could also be due to erythrism, a condition that makes the skin of animals reddish or pink.

The anomalous color, apparently, does not affect the survival of the manta ray or the vulnerability to predation, and this is because the animal is of considerable size, just think that an adult can weigh more than a ton.

FONTI: Kristianlainephotography / Project Manta / MantaTrust