First record of Mobula japanica (Rajiformes: Myliobatidae) from the south-eastern Pacific Ocean carlos bustamante 1,2 , lydie i. e. couturier 1 and michael b. bennett 1 1 School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia, 2 Laboratorio de Elasmobranquios (ELASMOLAB), Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnolo ´gicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile The spinetail devilray Mobula japanica was recorded for the first time in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, from a single beach- washed specimen examined at Bahı ´a Inglesa, Chile. The presence of this temperate-tropical species at about 278 south of its previously recorded range in the eastern Pacific Ocean may be explained by the absence of rigorous species-specific landing reports along the coasts of Peru and Chile. Alternatively, a strong warm phase of El Nin ˜o Southern Oscillation may have facilitated conditions allowing this epipelagic species to travel towards higher latitudes. This record increases the known range of M. japanica and the occurrence of mobulids in Chilean waters to three species. Photographs and morphometrics of the specimen are provided. Keywords: Mobula, devilray, Rajiformes, Chile Submitted 19 March 2012; accepted 20 March 2012 INTRODUCTION The spinetail devilray Mobula japanica (Mu ¨ller & Henle, 1841) is a large zooplanktivorous ray circum-globally distrib- uted within tropical to warm temperate waters (Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, 1987; White et al., 2006; Couturier et al., 2012). However, detailed information on its distri- bution and biology remain scarce. This species belongs to the family Myliobatidae, which includes the largest living rays, within which can be found the manta (Manta Bancroft, 1829) and devil (Mobula Rafinesque, 1810) rays. The genus Mobula is currently represented by nine recognized species (Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, 1987) and Manta by two species (Marshall et al., 2009). The genera are separated by the position of the mouth, which is located ventrally in Mobula and is terminal in Manta. Mobula japanica is a highly mobile epipelagic ray that reaches 3.1 m disc width (Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, 1987) and occurs in both shallow-inshore and deeper offshore environments, with sea- sonal aggregations in highly productive areas, such as the Gulf of California (Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, 1988). Although the fishing effort in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean has increased significantly over the past 20 years (Lamilla et al., 2010), the distribution patterns of myliobatid rays in this region are poorly known. While eagle rays (Myliobatis, Cuvier 1816) and devil rays have been reported in trawl, coastal gill nets and longline catches, relatively little is known about these specimens (Pequen ˜o, 1989; Lamilla et al., 2005). Four mobulid species have been confirmed in the south- eastern Pacific Ocean: Mobula munkiana Notarbartolo-di- Sciara, 1987 can be found from Ecuador to Peru (Bizzarro et al., 2006); Manta birostris (Walbaum, 1792) occurs between 08 (Ecuador) and 188S (south Peru) and, although not reported in the literature, the presence of the species in southern locations is possible as M. birostris occurs up to 348S in the south-western Atlantic (Marshall et al., 2011) and 358S in the south-western Pacific Oceans (Kashiwagi et al., 2011); Mobula thurstoni (Lloyd, 1908) and Mobula tar- apacana (Philippi, 1892) are the only mobulid species reported within Chilean waters, with the southernmost record for M. thurstoni at 378S (Clark et al., 2006). Historical records of these two Mobula species suggest a small distribution range in the Peru–Chile border region (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1941; Fowler, 1945; Mann, 1954; De Buen, 1959; Pequen ˜o, 1989). The absence of fishery specimens for these Mobula species has resulted in a paucity of verified biodiversity records for these species, despite unconfirmed anecdotal reports by coastal fishermen (Lamilla et al., 2010). This paper presents the first record of M. japanica in the south-eastern Pacific, with one specimen from Bahı ´a Inglesa, Chile. MATERIALS AND METHODS One beached-washed M. japanica was collected near Bahı ´a Inglesa, Chile (27808 ′ 32 ′′ S 70853 ′ 03 ′′ W), in February 2010 (Figure 1). At the time of examination, the specimen was dead, gutted and finned (both pectoral fins removed). No evi- dence of any fishing gear was observed. Twenty-two morpho- metric measurements were made on the carcass to the nearest Corresponding author: C. Bustamante Email: c.bustamantediaz@uq.edu.au 1 Marine Biodiversity Records, page 1 of 4. # Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2012 doi:10.1017/S1755267212000310; Vol. 5; e48; 2012 Published online