The place is likened to the nursery of the giant manta stingray

The waters in a conservation area off Texas gather a lot of manta rays coming to recover their body temperature.

A rare habitat of manta stingrays found in the Flower Garden Banks Marine Reserve in the Gulf of Mexico, off the state of Texas, USA, the Tech Times reported on June 19. The giant manta stingray or stingray are pregnant when they reach 10 years old and information about manta stingrays as well as how they grow is difficult to collect. The "nursery" of manta rays is the first case described in scientific research.

Manta stingray accounts for about 95% of manta stingrays in the Flower Garden Banks Reserve.

has a gentle nature despite its large size. Their wingspan can be up to 7 meters. They are often found in subtropical and tropical areas that are difficult to access. Due to less frequent occurrence, research on this species often lacks information on biology, life cycle and ecology.

"This discovery is an important step to expand our understanding of manta rays and the importance of different habitats in their lives , " marine biologist Joshua Stewart, who found "home Young, ' and the lead author of the study at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, said.

Stewart sees the manta stingrays in the Flower Garden Banks Marine Reserve in 2016. Then he sees a lot of manta stingrays swimming here and thinks this is not normal. Stewart and colleagues decided to analyze the collected data for 25 years by divers working at the Flower Garden Banks.

In a study published in Marine Biology on June 15, they concluded that manta stingrays make up about 95% of manta rays in the Flower Garden Banks Reserve. These rays have wingspan more than two meters. They may belong to one of two species of manta ocean stingray or manta stingray species Mobula birostris .

The "nursery" of manta stingray off Texas.(Video: YouTube).

Flower Garden Banks is one of 15 underwater protected areas planned by the US National Marine Protected Area Office. The area is about 160km south of Texas. The ecosystem in this area is thought to be stronger and more diverse than any coral reef in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Stewart's group concluded that manta rays swim in the reserve to restore heat after swimming in the deep, cold waters off the continental slopes."There are no nursery manta rays found anywhere else in the world, this shows the importance of this reserve for marine animals," Schmahl said.